


My Life Is A Soap Opera

by CQueen



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Actors, Age Difference, Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M, Older Man/Younger Man, Soap Opera, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2018-09-26 16:50:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 42,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9912044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CQueen/pseuds/CQueen
Summary: For quite long enough Harry Hart was a cast member of the increasingly bizarre and tawdry British soap 'Kingsman'.  Quite happy to retire from that insanity seven years ago, Harry is convinced by his young friend Eggsy, who is a reoccurring cast member on the show, to consider returning to the show for its twenty fifth anniversary.The little brat forgot to mention his 'brilliant plan' to hook their characters' storylines together.As a couple.Madness.  Utter Madness.





	1. Eggsy's Got A Plan

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.

Eggsy's Got A Plan

Harry wasn't ashamed of the fact that he'd spent over two decades acting on what was essentially a soap opera. The higher ups could call it a drama all they wanted, but Harry had no illusions about 'Kingsman'. It was a soap. And while his role as Colin Firth was far from his favorite, not to mention occasionally annoying given the differences in their personalities, Harry's time on the show had provided him with a steady income, a fanbase outside of his theater work, and the opportunity to do what he loved most.

Even if the storylines had often been about as real and believable as a crooked politician.

He'd left the show seven years before, his exit explained by his character's decision to become a teacher in another country. It had all been very last minute, as the higher up had refused to believe they couldn't convince him to stay, but Harry was just glad that they hadn't decided to make his character pay for his decision to leave the show. Because he'd made enough money and earned enough prestige that he didn't need to appear in the increasingly vulgar and distasteful drivel the writers were producing at the time, and not even for his character's integrity would he have stuck around.

But yet here he was, Harry acknowledged ruefully, on his way to speak with the main director, writers, and other big wigs associated with 'Kingsman'. The reason for the visit? To talk to them about returning in some capacity for the show's twenty fifth season.

Naturally he'd said no when originally approached about guest starring for the anniversary season. Above and beyond the obvious reasons to turn them down, he'd seen no point in revisiting his former role as Colin. Especially since his ending, however bad it had been, had at least been tolerable, which was more than could be said for the exits made by plenty of his former colleagues. Frankly he didn't even want to think about what new horrors the writers could visit on poor Colin if given the chance. Hell, he'd bet a thousand pounds that at some point one of the writers had suggested having his character come back after a sex change if he refused the role, just so that they could send a woman back in his place and really shake things up a bit.

It was a thought that put a smile on his face, since one did have to have a sense of humor about these sorts of things when one lived part of their life in a soap opera.

In the end it had been a combination of emotional blackmail from friends and colleagues associated with the show combined with the lure of a promised better ending for Colin that had made him agree to at least hear them out properly. Because the chance to play Colin as a stronger man than when he'd left the show, a better man, did appeal to him since he did owe much of his current success to that character. And so Harry found himself willing to at least speak to them about coming back in some capacity.

Hearing his name called by a voice he'd know anywhere, Harry smiled, shook his head, and then turned around to face one of the blackmailing friends who'd gotten him into this situation.

Eggsy Unwin was young enough to be his son, but Harry still counted the younger man as one of his closest friends. They'd met once when Eggsy was no more than a boy, Eggsy's father a talented young actor who'd tragically passed away when the boy was only five, but they had truly gotten to know each other during the last two seasons Harry had been on 'Kingsman'. Colin was an English teacher who had had Taron, Eggsy's character, as a student.

Eggsy had joined their cast with plenty of cocky bravado, Harry recalled with rueful fondness, but it hadn't taken long for all of them to see that Eggsy was a sweet boy underneath his swagger, the chip on his shoulder nothing in comparison to the size of Eggsy's overly generous heart.

"Hello, Eggsy."

Returning the warm hug Eggsy gave him as soon as they were in reach of each other, Harry took a moment to appreciate the fact that Eggsy was wearing the cologne he'd given him a couple Christmases ago. It was always nice to have a gift appreciated.

The chav look Eggsy clung so stubbornly to though, that he was still working on, Harry silently mused when they parted and Harry had to resist the urge to remind the boy that with the money he was making these days Eggsy really could afford to dress so much better than he did. It would probably only encourage the boy to waste more money on Adidas anyway.

"Come to make sure I showed?"

"Nah. At worst ya'd just be late. Like always."

Smirking in agreement, he did have the reputation of always being late for things he didn't want to do, Harry fell into step with Eggsy since the boy had taken his arm and was steering them towards his ultimate destination. "So what are you doing here, then? Not that it's not lovely to see you…but it is rather suspicious."

"Harry. Ya wound me."

"Nice try. What ARE you doing here?"

A quick pout, but Eggsy knew better than to think he could manipulate Harry that way. And they'd hardly taken more than a couple steps before Eggsy was back to his usual impish smile.

"I am here cause of your meetin, but not how you're thinkin. I ain't here ta make sure ya show up or browbeat ya in ta returning no matter what they wanna do ta ya. Swear down." Eggsy even put his free hand over his heart for emphasis. "In fact, ya should be thankin me."

"Oh really? And why is that, exactly?"

"Cause I came up with a totally brilliant idea for what they should do with your character this season. It will improve ratings, make your fans happy, AND mean that ya get ta spend plenty of screen time with your favorite person on the show. Me."

The cocky wink Eggsy aimed at him had Harry's lips curving a little in amusement. He couldn't help it. "And would I be correct in assuming that you aren't going to tell me what mad idea you've come up with now."

"Oi! Seriously? Need I remind ya that I was the one who talked ya in ta tryin out for the role of Galahad in 'The Secret Service'? Even though everyone, including you, Bruv, said I was barmy as sodding fuck ta think ya could do an action role. And weren't ya fucking brilliant in that role? Didn't WE blow the critics and every fucking body away with that movie no one thought was gonna be much ta see? Hell, when have I ever steered ya wrong?"

Since they were only a couple minutes away from their destination Harry just raised a knowing brow.

Eggsy scowled in response.

"Exactly. Though I will hear you out, along with everyone else about their ideas. But I will not agree to come back for this season unless I'm satisfied with the planned scripts."

"So ya already said like a zillion times already."

Oh the young and their love of exaggerating, Harry thought with shake of his head.

Still, at least with Eggsy with him the younger man wouldn't be able to say he was exaggerating when it came to the no doubt horrible pitches that were going to soon be lobbied in his direction.

)

Moving to the side to allow a young woman he didn't recognize walk past them, Harry had to bite back another sigh when she gave the two of them a look he'd become very familiar with since their last movie together. Despite the fact that the most affectionate gesture between his and Eggsy's characters had been a shoulder squeeze, hundreds, possibly thousands of fans had decided that their characters were meant to be a romantic couple. And that therefore he and Eggsy had to be a couple. Which Eggsy didn't help disillusion them about in the slightest, the little shit. Unlike him, Eggsy loved the fact that artists everywhere thought it a jolly good idea to draw pictures of him and Eggsy in extremely compromising positions, which television hosts had loved to trot out the last time he'd done the rounds.

Eggsy thought they were brilliant.

"You all right, Harry?"

"Do you have any upcoming TV appearances?"

"Uhm…not off the top of me head, no. Why?"

"Then I'm fine." He did not need to wake up to a message from his agent that Eggsy had said that Harry was definitely on his list of sexiest British actors. Again.

Letting go of his arm Eggsy hurried forward to open the door for him, the bow and over the top hand gesture putting another smile on Harry's face as he stepped in to be greeting by the small group of people already seated around the room's long table.

That Eggsy hadn't mentioned his plan to drop by was made obvious as various voices asked him what he was doing here.

"Well I knew you lot was gonna be discussin your plans for bringing Harry back for this season, and I wanted ta tell ya the brilliant idea I had about that before he heard the rest of your barmy ideas." Eggsy winked at them like he wasn't serious, though of course he was. Or at least Harry hoped Eggsy realized the majority of the show was utter rubbish at this point.

"A brilliant idea, hmm?" The woman who spoke wasn't someone Harry recognized, but he'd guess she was one of the writers that had come in after he'd left.

"Yup. And not only will Harry like it, but it will properly finish off both our storylines on the show, require very little buildup or effort, AND will bring in serious viewing numbers. At least where we're concerned. Guaranteed."

"Eggsy, nothing in show business is guaranteed."

"Trust me, Harry. This is brill. Possibly the most brilliant idea I've ever come up with, actually."

If he paled a little, Harry felt it a completely justified reaction to the gleam in the boy's eyes. Shit.

With a great sigh Adam Hamilton, one of the show's producers, gestured in Eggsy's direction with an air of resignation. "Well since we all know you won't leave until you have your say, lets here it. I'll introduce everyone after, since you're obviously about to explode with it."

"Cheers."

Eggsy paused a moment, no doubt for dramatic effect, and then off he went.

"All right then, so we all know the way Colin's storyline on the show ended was shit, right? It made no bloody sense for him ta go, not given his personality and the hold his family and Jack had on him. And that's on top of im loving his job and Kingsman as well. And I know why it was the way it was, but the audiences, except for the prats, hated it. Said it was abrupt, out of character, and didn't fit with the rest of the season. Which, let's face it, is true. But what I propose would change what happened so it did fit his character and would allow us ta basically start a new storyline with him in it that fixes things so that his character gets a happy ending everyone will be happy with."

Another producer spoke up. "And you propose we…?"

"We reveal that Colin was lying ta Mac and everyone else bout his reasons for leaving Kingsman. That it wasn't cause he wanted to stretch his wings and all that rubbish, but because he was afraid of what he might do if he stayed." Eggsy flashed Harry a grin then that did not bode well for him. "Now I said that his storyline would be tied in with mine, so at this point do I need ta recap our characters' previous history together?"

Given that all but one of the writers was new since Harry's departure, and there had been a great many plotlines and such since he'd left, Harry settled in for a few minutes of boredom as Hamilton stated that he'd tell them the relevant points, the man foolishly thinking he could take back control of this meeting from Eggsy before the boy was good and read to relinquish it.

The just of it was that Eggsy's character had been a troubled teenager when he'd entered the show, angry with the world and his single mother for dragging him out of the city and his gang to live a quieter life in her former hometown. Taron had been a troublemaking bad influence from the first, and as punishment for his latest prank on the schoolmaster Taron had been ordered to participate in the drama club's annual play, which Harry's character had been in charge of. Through many trials and tribulations Colin had managed to get through to and bond with the boy, and under his influence Taron had started to try harder in school and tone down his wildness. For a while Taron had reverted to his old ways after Colin had had to stay away from him due to untrue accusations regarding the nature of their relationship, but in the end Taron had blackmailed the headmaster into leaving them alone and Colin had tutored and nurtured Taron's interest in becoming a writer up until he left the show a term before Taron was due to graduate from Kingsman Academy.

"That covers most of it, yeah." Eggsy's agreed, once Hamilton was done with his summarizing. "And so here's what I'm proposin. What if the real reason Colin left was Taron?"

Harry didn't follow. "Because of you? Why?"

"Because what if Miss. Splinch, Taron's mum and friends, and some of the others weren't wrong when they thought that there was more to their relationship than just teacher and student? What if Colin was in love with im and left ta make sure he didn't act on those feelings? And what if Taron felt the same way…and that's why he's never had a long lasting relationship or said those three little words birds love so much? Cause all this time he's been waitin for Colin ta come back or him ta be successful enough ta be worthy of going after him? And now we've got Colin comin home for the summer in reaction ta his mum's murder…so what if Taron comes home as well, knowin Colin was comin back? Both our storylines need ta end at the end of this season, right? What better way than Taron goin off ta wherever Colin is livin now as a couple?"

)

Harry was fairly sure that his jaw was in danger of dropping to the floor, but couldn't bring himself to care as he stared at Eggsy like he'd grown another head. A look that Harry was reassured to see was mirrored on the rest of the faces in the room, proving that he wasn't alone in thinking that Eggsy had lost his mind. Because how could anyone think that this was a good idea? How had Eggsy come up with this idea? Had the boy been pissed out of his mind? Was Eggsy taking drugs? Oh dear God, that had to be it. All the boy's recent fame had proven to be too much, too quickly, and they were going to fight tooth and nail over it but he'd make his friend go into rehab before Eggsy ruined his life. After he put the little idiot over his knee and tanned his arse bright red for being so stupid and-

"Quit looking at me like I'm high, Harry."

"Eggsy…"

The younger man rolled his eyes. "I ain't on drugs, Harry! Just think about it for a minute, okay?"

And to emphasis his point Eggsy started counting them off on his fingers. "One, ya can't argue that aside from age he's exactly Colin's type. And second, they're exactly what the other needs in a lover. They're perfect for each other, really, aside from the age thing. And third, no one at this table can say that Harry and I don't have serious chemistry. I mean fuck, look at all the fanfics, artwork, and videos out there of us as a couple! Even though we ain't ever done more than hug onscreen!"

"There are VIDEOS?" He'd known about the other two mediums, unfortunately, but how could there be videos?

"Yeah, sure. I'll show ya on YouTube sometime. But the point is that there's a serious fanbase out there that already want us to be a couple. AO3 alone has nearly four thousand stories with us paired from 'Secret Service'. And those fans will tune in ta see im and I as a real couple."

"He's right." The girl who spoke up hardly looked more than twenty, and had a gleam in her eyes very similar to Eggsy's. "And at the end of Colin's storyline he gave Taron his favorite book as a keepsake when he came to say goodbye…what if there was a letter inside it explaining the real reason he was leaving, so that Taron knew all this time? Hell, we could even had them being pen pals of sorts, with Colin having imposed some sort of age limit Taron had to reach before they could be a couple, to make sure Taron was sure Colin was who he wanted? Oh! We could have this scene in the first episode with Taron's talking all romantic like on the phone about picking someone up from the airport…and it's Colin. Imagine the reactions!"

Like her words were a match thrown onto dry kindling the room suddenly erupted with possible scenes and plot twists, Eggsy wading into the discussion to argue how he thought things should go while Harry…he didn't know what to say.

They'd all gone mad.


	2. A Matter of Pride

A Matter of Pride

Eggsy might have lost the vast majority of his mind, Harry was firm on believing that, but it would appear the boy still had more brainpower left than the rest of the people in the room who'd jumped on the idiot's idea and were running with it like the road runner being chased by that accident prone coyote. Or at least Eggsy only spent about five to seven minutes, though it seemed more like a lifetime to Harry, arguing with everyone about how their storylines should go before remembering that this insanity required Harry's seal of approval, which he most certainly wasn't going to give.

He was old, not senile.

"Now, Harry." Eggsy began while the others continued their own conversations, his soothing tone the one he typically used when trying to talk Harry into doing something he knew Harry wouldn't want to do. "I know you're thinking I'm mad here, and I get that, sorta. But let's break this down, alright? Can you argue that age aside, Taron is exactly Colin's type?"

Having never stopped to consider it, why would he, Harry opened his mouth to argue that of course that wasn't the case, only he couldn't. Because…Taron was actually very much Colin's type. For most of his time on the show Colin had been hopeless in love with Jack King, a charming, intelligent, handsome man who was born to lead and get away with just about everything with ease. Taron lacked Jack's selfishness and inability to truly empathize with others, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing. So no, he couldn't argue that not only was Taron Colin's type, but would most likely make him happy barring the obvious reasons why it would never work.

"There is the age difference though, Eggsy. The significant age different."

"I know. And I know what you think on the matter. I should by now, eh?" Eggsy winked at him before turning serious again. "But Harry, this is a soap. And we have the chemistry to make it work. You KNOW that we can pull it off without trying, much less if you and I do it deliberately. Or is O'Connell right about the difference between your abilities to play a sexy romantic lead, hmm?"

Oh that was hitting below the belt. So low Harry would have smacked Eggsy upside the head had they been alone.

Marcus O'Connell was the Joan Crawford to his Bette Davis. His ultimate and most hated rival in the business. He HATED the man with a passion he normally reserved for early mornings and death metal. They'd hated each other since they'd started to compete for roles in their twenties and the rivalry was still going strong all these years later. The other man two years his junior, which O'Connell had never let him forget, and while they'd been of similar age they'd been type casted into specific roles early on that had led to one of the most famous 'O'Connell' quotes of the twenty first century.

'Harry Hart is the sort of bloke women want to marry, and I'm the one they sleep with on the side.'

And what was worse was the fact that Harry couldn't argue that he'd been pigeonholed into that role either when it came to his movie roles. He was usually the adult version of the boy next door, or the trusted, steadfast friend/teacher/leader. Truth be told be hadn't had anything resembling a sex scene in over a decade. And even then…it was always more implied than him actually having any chance to prove that he might be quite capable of keeping his wife happy and satisfied in that department, thank you very much. If he were remotely interested in women, that is.

An elbow in his side. "Think what he'd say, seeing you and me."

And there was the rub, because he knew exactly what Eggsy meant by that. For years now he and O'Connell had pretty much broke even when it came to their rivalry. He did better in theater, O'Connell in films. On the other hand Harry had more awards and prestige, while the bastard was more popular and raked in more money thanks to the film work, which naturally paid more than the theatre. Harry was even willing to admit that O'Connell had once been the better looking man, only now he was aging better and took considerable pleasure in that fact. But aside from the genes that kept his hair from receding like OConnell's was starting to, Harry had always had something else that O'Connell wanted but couldn't have. And that was Eggsy.

The bisexual, conscienceless arse had been sniffing around the boy since Eggsy had hardly reached adulthood, and had even attempted to court Eggsy with possible role opportunities and expensive gifts over the years. Opportunities Eggsy's had turned down flat, and expensive gifts Eggsy had donated to charity, though the boy had been a bit misty eyed over the leather jacket Harry had it turn bought him one in thanks. And O'Connell, being O'Connell, just wanted Eggsy that much more because of it, especially since he was a man who was not the least used to being denied. The fact that Eggsy would have nothing to do with him because of his friendship with Harry just made the prick want to corrupt Eggsy that much more.

Harry felt shivers of delight course through him just imagining Marcus's face at even the idea of him and Eggsy's in a sex scene together, much less actually watching it on the telly. And it would be broadcasted and talked about everywhere, such was Eggsy's rising fame and their 'couple' notoriety at the moment.

Only his dignity and the thought that he would actually have to do sex scenes with Eggsy kept Harry from rubbing his hands together in glee.

Not that he had any problem with the idea of touching Eggsy, in all seriousness a scene between them would actually be more realistic than man he'd watched on the big screen of tell. Because aside from the fact that they were the closest of friends, Eggsy's affectionate nature meant that over the years Harry had not only gotten used to having that physical affection aimed in his direction, but making Eggsy happy by returning it to a degree even though he was not much for such displays even when it came to his own family. So touching wasn't the problem until one factored in the sexual nature of the touching.

He had very firmly and conscientiously placed Eggsy in the category of friend and honorary family years ago. That Eggsy had made it clear, both when they'd started working together and occasionally since then that he wouldn't be opposed to them becoming lovers, well, he'd always made it clear that that wasn't going to happen. Would never happen. It was a line that Eggsy had accepted, thankfully, and never pushed him on.

He wasn't blind. Harry knew, intellectually, the boy's considerable appeal both inside and out. Knew that in many ways they were well suited for each other, which was why they were such close friends. But he was too old for Eggsy, and had no intention of losing a good friend for a few months of fun, if that, before reality hit them square between the eyes. And he'd known that nine years ago, and only become more sure of it as the years passed. To the point where Eggsy was just Eggsy to him. He didn't see him as anything else, and Harry wanted it to stay that way. And right now his instincts said that them playing lovers would not only remind him of things he'd made considerable effort to ignore and forget, but might prompt Eggsy to try and start something again.

"Hey, none of whatever ya're thinking. It's not as bad as all that. I ain't gonna make ya go along with my idea if ya really don't like the idea." Though there was a hint of hurt in the boy's voice. "Look, I'll shut em up and tell them ta tell ya their other ideas instead of harping on mine. I'll even head out and ya can come by my place like we talked about before afterwards. I'll have dinner waitin for ya. Okay?"

"Deal." Harry agreed, not wanting to make things worse.

"Cheers."

)

A couple hours later Harry had to practically drag himself towards the building that housed Eggsy's flat, he was just that mentally exhausted. But if he tried to cancel Harry knew Eggsy would take it the wrong way, and that would lead to further complications he didn't want to deal with later on. This way at least he'd eat before he passed out, and if he passed out…well Eggsy's couch was extremely comfortable. He'd slept on it before, and Eggsy wouldn't hold it against him so long as he made him breakfast in the morning.

Thomas, the doorman, was at his post as per usual, though the man beside him wasn't someone Harry recognized. That he was wearing the uniform suggested he might be Sam's replacement. Eggsy had been glad to see that one retire, and Harry didn't blame him. Sam had looked down on the boy because of where he'd come from, and hadn't been shy about it.

"Good evening, Mr. Hart."

"Thomas. I hope your evening is going well."

"Can't complain. This here is Christopher; he'll be taking over for Sam. Christopher, this here is Mr. Hart. He's here for Mr. Unwin, and even if Eggsy isn't in you can just let him up. He has his own key."

"Mr. Hart. I'm a fan."

"Thank you. It's a pleasure." Offering his hand they shook, Harry approving of the man's handshake. "Good luck with your training. You're in good hands with Thomas."

"Better head up so Eggsy's doesn't eat all that food that just came by himself." Thomas advised with a knowing smile. "You both could do with a night in, if you don't mind me saying so."

"It's been a long day, yes. So I'll see you both in an hour or two unless I pass out on his couch."

And on that note Harry said his goodbyes and headed through the door Thomas held open for him, Harry noting that he could smell the Chinese food already. Though that would be because whenever Eggsy's ordered food in he more often than not insisted on getting something for the doorman working even though they always told him he didn't have to.

Shaking his head Harry headed for the lift and pushing in the number for Eggsy's floor allowed himself to lean back against the wall once the doors had closed behind him. And stayed that way up until he'd reached the correct floor, when good manners and necessity had Harry straightening up and donning his game face before stepping out into the hallway and walking the short distance to knock on Eggsy's door.

The sound of barking, little claws on wooden floors, and then Eggsy was opening the door with J.B. sitting at his side, body quivering with excitement.

"Fuck. What the hell did they do ta ya after I left?"

Not surprised that Eggsy had seen right through him, Harry just sighed and stated that he wasn't prepared to discuss it without food and alcohol.

"Got ya covered, Mate."

Shrugging out of his coat Harry hung it up on its usual peg and then crouched down to give J.B. a couple pats and strokes so that the little pug wouldn't feel ignored.

Thankfully J.B. seemed to sense this was not a night for them to play tug of war or cuddle, the dog giving Harry's hand a quick lick before he trotted off to flop down on one of his doggie beds to chew on a rawhide bone some more. It was a little too big for the little dog to handle, actually, but that wasn't stopping J.B., no surprise.

And the sight brought a real smile to Harry's face as he washed his hands in the kitchen before walking over to take a seat on the couch in front of the table that was currently laid out with cartons containing the Chinese food Eggsy hadn't already portioned out on their plates.

Their compromise, Harry thought as he accepted the Chinese beer Eggsy handed over to him with thanks. He ate on the couch, and in exchange they were using real plates and not straight out of the cartons as had been Eggsy's habit before.

And using chopsticks, of course. Eggsy had picked that up quickly too, thankfully.

Passing the first few minutes in companionable silence, Harry felt himself relaxing, and was terribly glad all of a sudden that he'd come. Even if Eggsy wasn't going to like what he had to say.

"The majority of their ideas were worse than yours. I'd like to think, for the sake of their sanities, that they just liked your idea so much that they suggested horrible alternatives to make your idea sound even better. But I think their long term exposure to the show has severely diminished their grips on reality. And their sanities."

"That's fair." Eggsy nodded sagely. "And I know that means ya ain't gonna do it. It's okay, really. I started thinking it over, thinking about what they were saying ta make my idea more fleshed out, ya know, and I realized why ya don't want to do it. And it's okay. I get it."

Knowing the younger man well, Harry wasn't about to think he'd won just yet. "You do?"

"Yeah. I mean it's hard enough when you're in your prime, much less someone your age. I mean if you'd ever done sex scenes in your career that would be one thing, but ya ain't, so who can blame ya for freaking out at the idea of doing some at your age. I mean I didn't think it would faze ya because you're a professional, and really fit besides, but…hey, so ya ain't Helen Mirren. No big."

"Helen Mirren?" Harry repeated dumbly.

"Yeah. I mean she went TOPLESS for that 'Calendar Girls' movie she did, like, a decade and a half ago. Now that took fucking balls, and anyone who says she don't got im is off his nutter."

"Helen Mirren is practically old enough to be my mother!"

"I know. She one tough old broad."

"Eggsy. I am NOT afraid to do a sex scene. I was doing them before you were born."

"Harry, Mate, I've watched your movies, remember? Goin shirtless and kissin a bird in bed ain't a sex scene." A sympathetic pat to his shoulder that just pissed Harry off more. "And like I said, it ain't for everyone. I mean I ain't got a problem with it, but I ain't as…English as you? Or maybe it's just the difference in our generations?"

Feeling a twitch develop under his eye, it took considerable restraint on Harry's part not to let his insult or anger show. "I don't want to go along with your idea because I don't think us playing lovers is a good idea. Not because I don't think I'm up to it professionally."

"Sure it is. My mistake."

Now he was being humored. Eggsy was all but patting him on the head, Harry silently fumed as the boy gamely went back to eating like he hadn't just impinged Harry's manhood, professional ability, and guts.

Yes he'd never done anything explicit, even during his time on the soap, but that was simply because he'd never been cast in a role that called for it. It was as simple as that. Nor was it fear holding him back now that he was, in a roundabout way, being offered such a role. He was more than up to the role and was, as Eggsy had said, quite fit, thank you very much. He was fitter than some men Eggsy's age, in fact. He often got mistaken as being younger than he was. He had nothing to be ashamed of.

And then another thought occurred to him that had the food he'd eaten grumble in his stomach.

"Shit. This is going to make the rounds, isn't it?"

"What you mean?"

"Everyone we talked to today, they'll talk to others and before you know it everyone will be talking about your idea and how I turned it down." And what if they all thought the same thing as Eggsy? What if they assumed he turned down the idea just because he was afraid of doing a real sex scene? Or worse…didn't think he was in good enough shape to do it. And the people from the meeting would talk to the cast, and just off the top of his head Harry could think of three hardcore gossips between the cast and crew who would make sure everyone they knew in the business knew. Gossip that would only get worse as it went from person to person until lord only knows what reason people would be giving for him turning the role down. Many of them would ask Eggsy too…and what if he told them…

Over his dead and rotting corpse.

"Fuck. I'll do it."

"Do what?"

Giving Eggsy a look that hopefully conveyed the fact that Eggsy wasn't nearly as cute and innocent as he thought he was, Harry took a deep, resigned breath and stated the only answer he could give to maintain his pride and standing in the acting community.

"I'll agree to appear in the show provided that they go with your storyline idea. Though I'm going to demand final say on all plot points involving-"

Giving a war whoop Eggsy launched himself at Harry for a hug, the boy's face lit up with delight.

"Ya ain't gonna regret this, Harry. You'll see."

Oh yes, Harry silently contradicted him. I will.


	3. Awkward Explanations

Awkward Explanations

Taking some comfort from Eggsy's hug, he could use the comforting after all, Harry closed his eyes and tried not to think about what was in store for the two of them. Especially since he knew, realistically, that while he could demand some say in the scripts to come, there was no chance the writers or directors would back down if they really wanted something done their way. And once he had started…well quitting would not end well for him professionally or financially.

"You really won't regret this." Eggsy said seriously once he'd pulled away. "I promise."

"I know you'll do your best."

"Hey. I'm serious here." Letting go of his waist Eggsy brought his hands up to frame Harry's face between them, startling him. "If this is gonna make ya miserable then say no. Just cause I want it, it don't mean-what I mean is, I'll be miserable if you're miserable. So only say yes it if what ya want ta do and fuck everyone else and what they think. Including me."

"Eggsy." Placing his hands over the boy's, Harry had to sigh. This, this right here, was one of the reasons he could so rarely resist Eggsy. Such a heart, his Eggsy had. "It's fine. I'm just…this was not how I thought this day would go. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. And if I can't approve of the scripts they show me then I promise you I will back out."

Okay."

Sweet moment turning a little awkward now that they weren't talking or reassuring, especially since Eggsy was all but in his lap, Harry coughed a little and reminded Eggsy that they really should eat their dinner while it was hot.

"Right." Moving away to retake his seat, Eggsy picked up his plate and started eating again, Harry doing the same.

"So any plans for the rest of the week?" Harry asked after a bit, thinking that a change in conversation could only help at this point.

"Nah. Nothin much sides a magazine thing and some meets with people. We still on for Friday?"

"Of course."

"Cheers. Though…ah…we'll have ta start the game over again."

Narrowing his eyes, Harry ignored the rudeness of the gesture and pointed a chopstick in Eggsy's direction. This called for it. "And why is that, exactly?" They both took their Monopoly games very seriously, and had a running competition every year. Whoever won the most games that year got to pick the destination and the majority of the activities for their annual holidays together. It was a coveted prize, especially since this year he really had his heart on going to Portugal. He hadn't been there in over a decade himself, and wanted the chance to introduce Eggsy to its wonderful sights and culture.

"Well, see, Emma was cleaning up two days ago, and she moved the board on ta the coffee table ta do some dusting, and I didn't know. I figured it was still up high enough that Daisy couldn't get at it, and Emma didn't realize Mum had dropped her off ta visit…and, well, she got into it. And ate my game piece, five houses, and three hotels."

Jaw dropping, Harry stared at Eggsy in shock. "Are you serious? She's all right, isn't she?"

"Yeah." Eggsy grimaced. "The doc said ta just let them pass."

Harry joined Eggsy in making a face over that.

"So…I'm gonna use my One Ring ring for a game piece cause I don't like the others. And I went ta a game supply shop and bought some new hotels and houses, too." Eggsy grimaced again. "But while she's was being all Godzilla like Daisy knocked over all the cards and money too, so we're gonna have ta start from scratch." A loud sigh. "But since you was winning before it ended, it can be your win if ya want. It's only fair."

"No, it's fine. Accidents happen. I'm just glad Daisy's all right."

"Yeah, I freaked out pretty bad. Good thing Emma was there. She said ta tell you sorry about the game, by the way. She felt real bad about it."

"Tell her not to give it a thought."

"Will do."

That settled they discussed what take away to order for their match on Friday and whether Eggsy's choice to use the One Ring as a game piece would jinx him or not. The argument over which Thai place they'd ordered from once the type of food was decided on was interrupted, however, by a knock on Eggsy's front door. A knock that had not been announced beforehand by a call from the doormen.

"Well that's weird." Frowning, Eggsy set aside his plate and got up to head for the door.

"Check through the Judas hole before opening it." Harry ordered sternly, setting aside his plate as well. He had no doubt that Thomas would never knowingly let someone into the building who shouldn't be there, but reporters and crazy fans often found ways that no sane person could ever anticipate. And for all that Eggsy's youth meant the boy often thought himself tough and invincible, Harry knew differently. And would protect him if necessary.

Thankfully Eggsy settled for looking back and giving him an eye roll before he dutifully looked through the hole as ordered.

"It's Merlin."

)

Relaxing immediately, especially since he could guess why their shared agent might be dropping in on them, Harry supposed he should have known that Merlin would come by or call at some point. The man believed he had to be the first to know about everything, but especially when it came to Eggsy. Merlin often wavered between being glad Harry had insisted he take Eggsy on as a client, because Eggsy was a great deal more…colorful and original than the majority of Merlin's clientele, and therefore made things interesting, or cursed Harry because Eggsy was a handful. At the best of times.

Remaining standing out of politeness as Eggsy unlocked and then opened the door to usher Merlin in, the Scotsman nodded an acknowledgement of Harry's presence as soon as he spotted him before turning on Eggsy once the boy had closed the door.

"Have you spoken with Princess Tilde of Sweden recently?"

Eggsy joined Harry in blinking in surprise over the out of nowhere question. "Ah…no. Not for a couple of weeks, anyway. Why? And is there more than one Princess Tilde?"

Ignoring the last question, and wearing a very grave expression, Merlin's piercing gaze pinned Eggsy in place. "According to my sources, there's going to be an article in the next issue of 'De Telegraaf', which is in the Netherlands, they will be announcing that Princess Tilde is pregnant. And approximately eight weeks along."

"Tilde's up the duff? Huh. I'll have ta give her a ring, congratulate her." A thoughtful look. "Though she never struck me as the motherly type. Or at least not planning ta be one any time soon. Though if she is up the duff it ain't like I can take her out for drinks or nothing ta make her feel better bout it. Chocolate, maybe? That's the cure all for women, right?"

Harry caught on right away, even before Merlin made it clear why he'd come by personally. "Eggsy. It was approximately that long ago that you slept with her. Is there any chance I'm going to have to deal with the nightmare that will be you having knocked up a Scandinavian, unmarried to you, royal?"

"Me?" Eggsy laughed. "Naw, no worries, Guv. I ain't the dad."

"Are you sure? You do realize that birth control, no matter what kind it is, is not a hundred percent effective. And while Princess Tilde has a reputation for having multiple-"

"Oi, Merlin. I know that. I am living proof of the importance of using birth control, Mate. Knockin some bird up or gettin tricked into havin ta put a ring on it ain't something I'll ever let happen. It ain't me. Swear down."

Harry shook his head. "Eggsy, you need to prepare yourself for-"

"OI! I said it ain't me, Harry!" Eggsy stomped his foot for emphasis, reminding both of them how young he was. "Unless one of you blokes is aware that suddenly Mpreg is a thing, in which case yeah, hypothetically speaking, I could be the father, I ain't the father!"

Harry asked what Mpreg was at the same time that Merlin stated that last time he checked, Tilde was very much a woman.

Eggsy sighed loudly and dramatically. "I know she's a bird, Merlin. I've seen her naked, ain't I? And what I meant was, less anal sex can now knock someone up, I ain't gonna be askin for her hand in marriage any time soon. Like ever."

"Oh." A moment to absorb. "I can't put that in a press release."

"No shit." Eggsy rolled his eyes, his cheeks a little pink but otherwise he just seemed relieved that he'd finally gotten through to them. "But it ain't like she's gonna finger me as a possible dad neither. She wouldn't do that to me."

Shrugging out of his coat, Merlin hung it up beside Harry's before walking further into the room. "Well let's just hope that she doesn't. This sort of thing can get ugly fast, so that even when the truth gets out your reputation will still bear the tarnish. Particularly given how popular she is here in Europe. Are you two still sleeping with each other? Any reason why she'd be feeling vindictive or desperate enough to lie?"

"You do realize we live in two different countries, right? Not like we was ever in a romantic relationship, Merlin. And we don't wanna neither. We're just friends with one time side bennies." Eggsy shrugged the possibility of a media circus off in typical Eggsy's manner. "I mean I can't say for sure she wouldn't throw me under the bus if it helped her out, but I ain't worried at the moment."

"I need a drink."

Merlin headed for the kitchen while Eggsy walked back over to take his seat besides Harry again, pulling out his phone once he was seated to begin texting away at it.

Which was probably for the best since Harry was still trying to process what he'd just been told. It wasn't like he hadn't been aware that Eggsy had had a sexual relationship with the Swedish princess, the press had had a field day after Eggsy had rushed in to save her from a horde of paparazzi. The boy had gotten a lot of press here in Britain about it because he'd famously asking the parasites if killing his princess wasn't enough, that they had to try for another. How she'd thanked him for rescuing her, well Eggsy had also famously spent the night in her hotel room. Harry and the general public had figured sex had happened. They'd just apparently been wrong about what kind of sex the two had had.

"I sent her a text. See what she says."

Not surprisingly Merlin came over with not just a glass of wine, but a plate and another pair of chopsticks to steal food from the takeout containers with. Which he did as soon as he'd reached the table while Harry and Eggsy watched.

Once his plate was loaded up and he'd dragged the ottoman over to sit on, Merlin turned his attention back to them. "Did ya explain Mpreg to him, then, Lad?"

"The idea would probably freak him out. And he's had a hard day."

"I don't need to be coddled. And I would still like to know what it means, actually." Actually he had a feeling he didn't want to know, but he was curious now.

"Mpreg is a fanfiction term. It's used to describe a fanfiction where men are capable of becoming pregnant." An evil gleam came into Merlin's eyes. "You've Mpregged Eggsy here a lot online."

"Oi. I've knocked him up in fanfiction too."

"But nine times out of ten he's the alpha."

"Oh shut it."

"This is a thing online?" Horrifying. It was just horrifying. Men becoming pregnant? And what did Merlin mean, he was more often the alpha? Did he mean that he was perceived as more alpha in nature than Eggsy, and therefore more likely to top? Or was it something else he didn't want to know about? And just how many people out there were reading these thousands of fanfics every day?

Dear God in heaven.

"Yup. There's a really cute one where you're pregnant, and it's all going aces until ya can't fit in your bespoke suits no more, and ya get all emotional and stuff so I gotta get the tech guy to make new trousers that will stretch for ya. I can send ya the link."

"Thanks. But no thanks. I've been depressed enough today." Harry sent Merlin an accusing look. "And why do you know so much about all this fanfiction business?" If Merlin was in any way, shape or form encouraging these people he was going to find new management. And insure that Merlin's body was never found.

"I'm both your agents. Of course I keep abreast of public opinions when it comes to the two of you. You two just make it easier on me, since you're so interlinked in the media."

Harry glared at him for a moment before turning his judging gaze on Eggsy. "And why are you reading this nonsense?"

"It's not nonsense. It's fiction. A lot of it's really sick, actually, and it's usually our characters from 'Secret Service' they're writing about, not us specifically. Sides, you liked that World War I one I sent ya, remember? Ya even praised the author for the historical accuracy of it."

"We did no more than kiss in that one. And it was very well written."

"We did more than that in the sequels. Which I'm guessing ya skipped, huh?"

Given that those stories had included warnings that sex happened in them yes, Harry had ignored their existence.

"I don't know what's more depressing. This fanfiction nonsense or the ideas they were throwing around today at Kingsman."

Merlin raised his eyebrows, keen interest coming into his eyes. "What? I thought you said you'd mentally prepared yourself for whatever the Kingsman writers had to throw at you. And it's not like you have a contract with them still. They can't make you do anything. Hell, I didn't bother showing up because I figured you were just going out of good manners and to shut the boy up."

"Hey!"

"We both know you're the only reason he would agree to return for a season."

Eggsy looked pleased by that.

"I've agreed, with conditions, to do another season of the show. It's the plot line Eggsy suggested and talked me into that's the problem."

"Oh yeah? Well lets here it then."

"Well really there's three plot possibilities." Harry explained with a sigh of resignation, since as his agent Merlin would have to come with him to hammer out the details anyway. "And I'm not sure which is the least troubling." Briefly Harry summarized Eggsy's original idea, ignoring the growing smirk Merlin gave him. "So there's the version where I left the note and we've had no contact since, the second where we've had contact through the mail and nothing more, or the final version which would be where at some point we did reconnect and this would just be the big reveal, as it were."

Merlin was silent for a couple minutes, Harry not saying anything since he did value the other man's opinion.

"Hell. The Hartwin fans are going to be all over this like cats on catnip."

"The what now?"

"Hartwin. It's our couple name. Like Bennifer or Brangelina."

"We have a couple name?!"

The way Merlin and Eggsy grinned at him answered that question.

"Bugger."

The way Eggsy rubbed his back in comfort did comfort. But it also annoyed the hell out of him.

"If you didn't want people to think you two are a couple, you shouldn't act so cute together."

Glaring at Merlin, since there wasn't anything else he could do since he wasn't about to stop being friends with Eggsy just to shut these people up, Harry stubbornly went back to eating, ignoring the other two until a few minutes later, when Eggsy's voice chimed an incoming text message.

Pulling it out of his pocket again Eggsy read it over and smiled, which Harry took as a good sign even before the boy looked up to meet their questioning gazes.

"She ain't due ta pop a little nipper out any time soon. She says she ain't pregnant."

Merlin looked relieved. "Good to know. Were her people aware of the article?"

"Uh uh. She says thanks for the heads up."

"Excellent. It's always good to have the gratitude of royals."

)

Note: So I'm leaving it up to you, the readers, as to what version of the soap plot I should go with. Let me know what you think in the reviews and hopefully I'll do whatever storyline idea you pick proud. Also, for those of you who are interested in the two AO3 fanfics mentioned above, both of which I highly recommend, they're listed here below.

'In This Safe Place Here' by Della19

'The Great War' by Fabrissa


	4. Getting Into Trouble

Getting Into Trouble

Due to the fact that it had started to pour, complete with thunder and lightning, Harry was happy to take Merlin up on his offer of a ride home. Especially since he and Eggsy lived so near each other than the car ride wouldn't be nearly long enough for Merlin to annoy him with more horrifying facts about fanfiction or the latest celebrity gossip concerning him and Eggsy.

Which never seemed to bother Eggsy in the slightest, Harry mused as he settled into the passenger seat of Merlin's car. And he never could figure out why that was.

Starting the car beside him, Merlin shot him a knowing look, which irritated him, but the other man didn't comment as he pulled out of the parking space.

"So you'll contact Kingsman tomorrow, get the ball rolling as it were?"

"Oh most definitely, before you change your mind." Merlin smirked. "And just remember, this is going to make you a hell of a lot of money, my friend. Not the contract itself, they're more tight arsed at that studio than my Gran, God rest her soul, but the offers that will come after. For the first time you'll be proving you have actual sex appeal. Or I'm assuming you do. Or that the boy will have enough for both of you."

Silence

"Remind me why we're friends and you're my agent again?"

"We've both been driven mad by the business."

"Right. That would be the only logical explanation." Harry shook his head over that sorry fact. And then muttered that he did have sex appeal.

"Hinted at it, perhaps, but let's face it, you've never been seen as a sex symbol, Hart. Or even asked to model shirtless for that matter."

Fuck. He hated that Merlin was right about that. Just like he hated the fact that he'd been stereotyped as not being sexy for bloody decades now. It was why he was doing this stupid thing in the first place. Well that and his pride. And because Eggsy would be…well not heartbroken, but certainly hurt if he backed out now.

"Look at it this way, Harry. This is quite possibly the first time in your life you've had a body worth showing off naked, so really, it's for the best that these will be the first real sex scenes you've ever been in."

"Excuse me!"

Merlin didn't look fazed in the slightest. "I'm speaking as your agent here. Which means truthfully. You've never been out of shape, Harry. I've never had someone come to me and tell me to be on your arse to lose a few stones. Though I have had people tell me to talk to you about getting some work done. But the-"

"Who the hell said I need work done?!"

"Not important. What is important is that you trained your arse off with Eggsy to look the part of international spies, and you succeeded, brilliantly. And yes you've put some of the weight back on since, but overall you're in the best shape of your life and that's how you'll be remembered. Or at least immortalized on YouTube."

Dropping his head into his hands, Harry groaned loudly in the silent car.

"Oh don't be such a drama queen."

There was only one proper response to that, and Harry didn't think twice about giving the man the two fingers salute.

Merlin's chuckle in response was not the reaction he'd been going for.

But proving that he hadn't completely lost his mind, only most of it, Merlin changed the subject by asking if he was sure that he wanted to go with Eggsy's original storyline that would have the two having no contact in the time that had passed since Harry's exit from the soap.

"Yes. If they want me to have sent Taron a letter of congratulations over his books that would be fine, certainly in character, but I don't want them to have had regular contact since he left. That would be too much like he was grooming Taron to become his boy toy and that's…no. There's going to be enough backlash concerning our age difference without that hanging over my head. I won't have Colin branded a pedophile on top of everything else."

"You do realize that he would have legally been of age even before you left the series, don't you?"

"I was his teacher. And in a position of authority over him. Not to mention his emotional vulnerability with my character being the only one who…no. It would have been completely unethical."

"But not anymore."

Something in Merlin's tone, some hint of a double meaning to those words, had Harry narrowing his eyes in suspicion, though all for nothing since the Scotsman wasn't even looking in his direction.

"Only on a soap opera could such a relationship work for a season, much less in reality."

"Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones are going on seventeen years with a what, twenty five year age difference? And that's in a business where lasting five years is a serious accomplishment."

"There are rare exceptions to every rule. Those two just happen to be one, and not without their troubles in the past either, come to that. And before you argue or get all smug about it, care to name even four more couples with similar age differences that have or had a similar track record?"

Merlin just shook his head. "I'm just saying that you need to get over that way of thinking, especially since the first option is the hardest one for the both of you to play."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you'll be playing men who haven't seen each other in years. Men who were never more than student and teacher for the most part. Meanwhile you and Eggsy are incredibly close, and your body language makes that very obvious just looking at the two of ya."

Well aware of that fact, he wasn't an idiot, Harry stated that he and Eggsy were professionals, and they'd do just fine.

"Oh I have no doubt that the rest of it will be second nature to the both of you."

"And just what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I'm looking forward to seeing you both in action."

Not believing that for a second, and having a bad idea he knew exactly what Merlin was referring to, Harry lapsed into silence to pretend otherwise for the rest of the drive to his place. It struck him as safer that way.

So he kept his mouth shut until Merlin was parking outside his door, when good manners dictated that he thank his agent for the ride and wished him a good night.

"Same to you."

Undoing his seat belt and opening the door, Harry had just stepped out and closed the door behind him when Merlin rolled down the passenger window and said his name.

Turning around to bend over to properly meet Merlin's gaze, Harry was grateful that the rain had mostly died down as he asked what he wanted.

"Celine Dion and Rene Angélil, married twenty one years until his death, and them with a twenty six year age difference. Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, twenty three year difference, fifteen years together. Christopher Isherwood and his man were together over thirty years until his death, with a thirty year difference. And Bruce Willis and Emma Heming, twenty four years difference, married eight years. Good night, Harry."

And so saying the Scottish bastard rolled up the window and backed away, leaving Harry standing there, wishing he had something to throw at the other man's car.

Why would Merlin even know all those ages and timelines memorized, anyway? Had he planned for this argument for some reason? And speaking of which…

"Trump and Melania could be on that list, and look how that's going for them and the sodding world!"

Not that Merlin could hear him, but Harry did feel better for saying it as he stomped off to his front door.

)

Weeks Later

Harry was having a lovely dream in which he was walking on a beach at sunset, the colors gorgeous and breathtaking to behold. The still faintly warm sand squishing between his toes, the sounds of the surf and gulls, and in the distance he could see someone running towards him. Someone he knew and wanted to walk along the beach with. So he picked up the pace, only he had to stop because his nose was itching something horrible, distract him. And though he raised a hand to scratch the side of it it just got worse and it was as if…

Slowly opening his eyes, Harry blinked as his sleep gaze met very familiar green eyes.

Green eyes alight with mischief and very close to his own as a finger stroked down his nose one last time.

Throwing off sleep as fast as his brain was up to doing so, Harry quickly became very much aware of the weight on his hips and thighs that indicated that someone, Eggsy since he'd know those eyes anywhere, was straddling him. On his bed.

Sitting back on his heels, and looking very pleased with himself, Eggsy was all smiles as he wished him good morning.

"And to you." Was the best Harry could come up with. "Mind telling me what you're doing here?"

"First day of shooting. Didn't want you to sleep in. Plus I made ya some brekkie, just ta say thanks for not backin out."

Since he would have rather slept more than eat, he'd have been fine with some tea and a piece of fruit on the way there, Harry took a deep breath which was meant to be a sigh, only he caught the scent of just what Eggsy had made him. "Is that French toast?"

"It is. So go use the loo then get back in ere."

"I have a perfectly useable dining room table downstairs."

"And we have perfectly useable bed trays here." Eggsy gestured beside them. "Now go on, then. Or the tea won't be hot enough for ya."

All right, French toast was worth getting up for. Plus his bladder was definitely awake now as well. "You'll have to get off first."

"Oh. Right." Sliding off with a joking wink, Eggsy took a seat at the bottom of the bed, waving him off in the direction of the door.

Rolling his eyes Harry threw off his covers and slid out of bed, making his way across the room with much yawning and backward glances in the direction of the trays with food. He was also very careful not to look at Eggsy, who was still sitting on the bed and no doubt smirking at him like the evil morning person he was.

Making his way to the loo Harry quickly took care of business, splashing water on his face afterwards to wake him up a little more before he headed back to his bedroom.

Turns out all he needed to finish waking up was the sight of Eggsy under the covers of his bed with a pillow between his back and the headboard, another propped up for Harry to lean against beside the little bugger while they ate the meal set out before them on their individual bed trays.

"You brought your own bed tray." And had made himself quite at home.

"Course. Yours ain't big enough for the both of us, now is it?"

Shaking his head Harry couldn't argue with that, appreciating it when Eggsy lifted up his tray for him so that he could more easily slide under it before it was set back down. The tray had originally been a gift from Eggsy, and matched the one currently resting over Eggsy's lap.

"Looks delicious."

"Course it is. I slaved over a hot stove ta make it."

Rolling his eyes, Harry picked up his knife and fork to start cutting into his toast, Eggsy doing the same beside him. Ignoring everything but the food and more importantly the tea, Harry felt somewhat human and up to holding intelligent conversation after the first piece of toast was in his stomach.

"You do realize this isn't my first day of filming. I did scenes yesterday." Just one, really, of him being picked up at the airport by Colin's closest friend, but it still counted.

"Yeah, but today is the first one with me, ain't it? And sides, me gettin ya up at this time will only add authenticity ta your scenes later, now won't it? You're supposed ta be tired and jetlagged."

"Given all the takes we'll be doing soon enough, I don't imagine it would have been difficult for me to act tired and irritable even without the early wake up call."

"What time did ya have your alarm set for, anyway?"

Glancing over at the clock, Harr made a face at it. "Not for another twenty or so minutes."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"You've been skipping breakfast again, haven't ya?" Eggsy eyes narrowed threateningly. "Do I have ta start coming over here every morning ta make sure ya start the day right? Do we have to have ANOTHER fight about you taken proper care of yourself? How are you supposed ta be around to keep me sane during my future midlife crisis if ya don't eat and exercise properly? I'll end up being married five times and with all sorts of vices, and it will be all your bloody fault!"

"Because it's all about you, really."

"Obviously!"

Laughing in spite of himself, Harry would have reached over and ruffled Eggsy hair if not for the cap the boy was wearing. Taking it off and then doing it took all the whimsy out of it. So instead he turned back to shut off his alarm since he wouldn't be needing it, and then turned his attention back to cutting up his French Toast while debating whether or not to point out that feeding him this kind of breakfast was not the way to keep him alive longer. It was the truth…but he didn't want Eggsy to stop making it for him either. Or worse, making him oatmeal instead.

So instead he turned the conversation back to the day ahead of them, discussing the new lines they'd been given and what they thought of them. This they could talk about for hours, since one of the many problems with acting on a soap opera was that there were too many writers with very different ideas when it came to the characters they were writing. One memorable man had tried to write Eggsy's scripts phonetically, because he couldn't figure out how to spell the words the way Eggsy spoke them. He and Eggsy had had some hilarious times reading those. Or trying to read them.

They were deep in discussion about how they should both react to a certain part of the pub scene when Harry's phone went off on his bedside table.

Snatching it up off the table, and fumbling to accept the call on the still relatively new phone, Harry wasn't sure what to think when Merlin's face appeared on the phone's screen, but at least Merlin was greeting him, which meant he'd successfully accepted the call, anyway. It was still touch and go, no pun intended, whether he could get the damn thing to work or not.

"Good morning, Merlin."

"Still in bed, I see."

What the?

"How do you know I'm still in bed?"'

"Because I can see you."

"Why can you see me?" At the sound of a familiar snicker, Harry looked over at Eggsy. "Why can he see me?"

"Ya must ave hit the button for a live chat is all."

"How did I do that?"

Eggsy gave him a pitying look before stating that when they had some wait time between takes he'd show Harry how to use his phone again.

"Well good morning, Eggsy. Still in bed as well?"

Not liking Merlin's tone one little bit, Harry turned the screen so that it was facing Eggsy, assuming that that would allow Merlin to see for himself that Eggsy might be in bed with him, but that they were both fully clothed, and in Eggsy's case already dressed for the day.

Eggsy waved at the screen.

"Breakfast in bed? Very nice. Though you do both recall that you have jobs to get to, correct?"

Together Harry and Eggsy said 'yes'.

"Good. Now I was calling to make sure that Harry wasn't going to be late, but I assume that you have that under control, Eggsy, so I'll just wish you luck today, particularly when it comes to trying to teach him how to use his new phone."

"Stuff it, Merlin." He'd asked the two of them to recommend an easy phone to use after his last one, which had had lovely, convenient buttons to press on it, had up and died on him. It was not his fault that this was his first touch screen and he was still getting the hang of the blasted thing.

"He's getting the hang of it. Mostly cause there ain't hardly any apps on it. But he can text pretty well now, even if he does insist on spelling everything out like it was a bleeding essay for Oxford."

"Really, Eggsy. You know I'm a Cambridge man. And if the only reason you called me was to badger me about getting up, Merlin, well then I'm up. So to speak. And we won't be late for work. We are professionals, you know."

The sound Merlin made made it clear what he thought of that. But he let it go.

Saying his goodbyes instead, Merlin hung up, or whatever one called it these days when they ended a call.

"Well guess we better finish our breakfast and get you dressed for the day." Eggsy commented after Harry had set the phone back on his nightstand after confirming with Eggsy that it was off.

"Sounds like a plan to me."


	5. Together Again

Together Again

Arriving with Eggsy at the studio lot, Harry ignored the looks they were getting from cast and crew alike. Their time on the sets for 'Secret Service' had prepared him well for the assumptions people seemed prone to jump to where he and Eggsy were concerned. Before he'd tried to explain that their close proximity to each other geographically was why the so often came in and left together, carpooling just making sense, but that had never seemed to change anyone's mind so Harry didn't even bother trying anymore. Instead he turned his attention to greeting everyone that he knew from his previous stint on the show that he hadn't seen the day before.

Shaking hands and sharing a quick hug with those he was closest too, Harry endured their good natured ribbing about returning to the show after vowing to never return, Eggsy's tone teasing as he cautioned them not to chase Harry off after he'd had to work so hard getting him.

And then one of the writers was calling Eggsy over, a possible script change, Harry surmised, and off the boy went with a promise to hurry back.

"Sure you don't need to go with him?" Jim teased, the long-time cameraman smirking at Harry knowingly.

"I think Eggsy is more than capable of walking across a room without supervision."

"Well I enjoyed spending the fifty pounds I raked in, betting that the boy would get you back here." Mark chimed in with a knowing smirk on his face as he joined them. "Didn't expect him to rope you into such an interesting story line, though. Not that I'm complaining. I can't wait to see what the writers cook up for you two."

"Why are we friends again?"

"A question I ask myself regularly." Mark assured him. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Might have something to do with you looking forward to the way Andrew is going to sulk over Harry being back." Sarah teased, poking her onscreen husband in his side before winking at Harry. "He's only gotten worse with age, by the way, in case Mark and your boy haven't told you."

"Oh they have." Andrew Bookman played Jack, and it had always been one of Harry's greatest artistic struggles, convincingly acting like he loved the man. He deserved numerous statuettes for the performances he'd given in that regard, really.

Andrew was a failed Shakespearean actor who had accepted being reduced to acting in a soap, but too often played his character like some Shakespearean hero half his age. Harry had always pitied the directors who had struggled to rein the prat in it that regard.

The man was also one of O'Connell's lackies, the man putting up with Andrew for reasons Harry had never understood. But his rival must get something out of it, because otherwise Harry would think the man was losing his sanity as well as his hair.

Perhaps their shared hatred of him bound them together, Harry mused, perfectly fine with that.

Feeling eyes on him that felt more than a little malevolent, but weren't Andrew's, Harry turned his head to look in the direction of the girl who he recognized immediately as a reoccurring character on the show who'd been Taron's step sister, one night stand, blackmailer, and attempted murderer at one point or another. Currently she looked ready to finish the job this time, only it would be him, not Eggsy's character she'd be aiming her car for.

"You'll want to keep on eye on, Lil." Sarah murmured as the woman in question sauntered off to talk to an actor Harry didn't know either.

"I can see that. Mind telling me why? I'm sure we've never met."

"She wants your boy and he told her no." Mark shrugged in a 'what ya gonna do' fashion while Sarah gave the other woman a disapproving look. "She's the sort that thinks every man should want her, and who can blame her looking as she does, but I guess she figures you're the reason he's not interested in becoming another notch on her belt."

"I see. And you know, Mark, it would help me convince people Eggsy and I aren't seeing each other romantically if my closest friends were to STOP calling him my boy."

Mark snorted. "Even if we stopped people would keep believing. How many of his girlfriends have you chased off now?"

"I did not-only four, and I had perfectly good reasons for doing so." And he did. "Two of them were only after his money, one obviously had a drug problem, and I heard the other talking to her friends about how she could go about insuring she became Mrs. Eggsy Unwin, by becoming pregnant, and I was only being a good friend passing that information along to him."

The sound the other man made in his throat was blatantly unbelieving. "I see. And speaking of women getting up the duff, what's this I hear about your boy and that princess he was shagging?"

"Are they still printing that rubbish?"

"Slow news month, I suppose."

"Well it's not true, obviously."

"Obviously." Jim agreed with a devious grin. "Now if it had said that he was pregnant with your baby, now that would have been more believable."

Harry stared at the man. "Please tell me you don't read the fanfiction too."

"Well I'll be. And just what have you been reading lately, Harry?"

"Excuse me." The young man who'd come over gave him an apologetic, but also flatteringly awed look. "Sorry, but I was sent over to escort you to wardrobe and then makeup, Mr. Hart. They, ah, have rearranged things since you filmed here. Mr. Moseby said."

"Thank you. I'll see you all later." Harry added with a nod before informing the boy to lead the way, asking his name as they walked.

The gofer's name was Nick, and they'd almost crossed the length of the room before Eggsy was suddenly at his side, asking where he was going.

"Wardrobe. I have an escort, it seems."

Eggsy glanced at Nick. "You can go, Nick. I got this."

"Ah…Mr. Moseby said…"

"Unless Moseby's changed much Nick could probably use a break from the man." Harry interjected, giving Eggsy's shoulder a squeeze. "You can both show me the way."

Harry honestly wasn't sure how to interpret the look Eggsy gave him, especially since it was there and then gone so fast he only had time to sense that he'd missed something. And Eggsy was saying that that was fine and telling him they better hurry, since yeah, Moseby still had a stick so far up his arse it was a wonder it wasn't visibly every time he opened his mouth ta yell at them.

Nick tripped over thin air over that, Harry too used to Eggsy's colorful opinions to do more than shake his head as Eggsy steered him towards the correct hallway, Nick bringing up the rear once the poor boy had regained his equilibrium.

)

Harry had braced himself for things to be bad, it was always wise to hope for the best and expect the worst when it came to this show, but he had to hand it to the director in charge today, he knew his stuff. Or at least the first parts of the scene where he and Mark were two friends catching up with each other at the pub went well. Then you added Andrew to the mix and Harry could feel a headache coming on as "Cut!" was called out again and again, so that they had to start all over again. The fact that Andrew did not want him back was coming through too clearly, and soap or not some consistence was expected.

And then finally the pieces started to fall into place…

Smiling in response to the joke Mac had just told, it was expected, after all, Colin took a sip from his glass while trying to think of how to once again bring up the fact that he really should be heading over to the inn to catch up on his sleep. And then instinct had him glancing over. 

And there was Jack, of course, the man cutting through the crowded pub with ease to arrow over to them with those dark blue eyes fixed on him. 

Automatically Colin raised a hand to run nervous fingers through his hair even as his eyes evaluated the changes that had happened since they'd seen each other last. So he saw and noted the dye job that would only be obvious to someone who knew Jack's natural color, the stones that had been added to the other man's frame though he was still in decent enough shape for a man his age. He himself had aged since last they'd met, and Colin supposed it showed his growth as a person, that he didn't worry about what Jack saw when he looked at him.

Or that could just be his jetlag.

"Colin. It's been far too long."

"Jack." Rising because good manners dictated it, Colin didn't struggle when he was pulled into the hug, but his smile was real because thank you, God, he was in Jack's arms and felt nothing. Finally.

And Jack, being Jack, kept the embrace quick, lest anyone get any ideas about them, which suited him just fine.

"It's good to have you back. Not that I ever doubted you'd come back eventually. Just couldn't stay away for long, could you?"

"My mother died, Jack. I had to come back."

He could see his hint of sass surprised Jack, but Colin leapt at the opportunity presented by this interruption. "And as much as I'd like to catch up, I'm completely knackered and really should turn in before I fall asleep in my cups. Another time, perhaps?"

"You always were a lightweight." Jack stated with amusement, the look in his eyes one of predator spotting easy prey. And then Jack was reaching out, gripping Colin's arm like he had every right to touch him. "Well then, let's get you to bed, shall we? We can enjoy a quick trip down memory lane on the way."

Knowing exactly what the man meant, was hinting at, Colin drew himself up to his full height, having not even realized he'd been slouching, as had always been his habit around Jack. Jack hated being reminded that Colin was taller than him. But he was not going to-

"No need for that, Jack." The words were spoken with obvious derision and scorn. "I'm sure he'd hate to deny you your chance to hit on women half your age while making a complete arse of yourself."

Freezing, Colin slowly turned his head as everything swam in front of him, not even really registering Jack's harsh resort that the boy should mind his own business. 

And then just as suddenly everything returned in crystal clarity, and he was looking at Taron for the first time in what felt like decades, not a few years.

He'd seen pictures, of course he'd followed his former student online and read all the boy's books, but seeing him for himself…

He'd lost what had been left of his baby fat in his cheeks, Colin though, which contrasted sharply with the way Taron's body had filled out, become a man's body that anyone would admire and covet. But other than those changes he was Taron, and Colin felt his heart sing at the sight of him, even as he cursed that fact as they held each other's gazes like two magnets whose core nature called for them to hold.

"Are you two even listening to me?" Jack's outrage was obvious enough to catch Colin's attention. And remind him that they had an audience, which he now saw were all at least looking in their direction, trying to catch every word for later discussion.

"As I said, jetlagged." Taking advantage of Jack's split attention, Colin gently pulled his hand free of the other man's hold. "I'll see you both later, and Mr. Egerton…did I teach you nothing about picking fights with people?" It hurt to call Taron that, like they were strangers or student and teacher again, but he had to. Had to.

Sauntering over with the attitude of youth, Taron smirked at him. "Sorry, Sir. You can put me in detention later."

"I don't recall that ever doing me any good."

"At least I showed up when you sent me." Taron grinned that much wider at him, inviting him to banter with him. As they once had.

But of course Jack wouldn't stand to be dismissed or upstaged by anyone, much less Taron. "Shouldn't you be off flirting with your latest bit of trash, Egerton?"

"I suppose I could, since ya need me ta warm em up for ya, but I've got other plans for tonight. Startin with seein my favorite teach back ta his place before Mac here drinks him under the table or you fall into bad habits where he's concerned." Taron's tone made it clear what he was referring to, and the flush that crossed Jack's face made it clear that the unspoken message had been received and-

"Cut!" Andrew called out, his hands going to his hips as he brought the scene to a grinding halt. Again. "This is not working for me. These lines I've been given are rubbish, and I refuse to have my character's integrity-"

"What integrity?" Eggsy wanted to know, looking just as pissed. "Jack don't have any. He's cheated on every wife and mistress he's ever had, not to mention the fact that he used and emotionally abused Colin for fucking years. And that's on top of all the other shit he's done to keep his secrets and position in Kingsman. He wouldn't know integrity if it bit him on the arse."

While Harry was in complete agreement with Eggsy on this one, saying so wouldn't help them finish this damn scene before they were all ready for the grave.

Thankfully the director obviously knew that nothing was going to get done today if Andrew and Eggsy were allowed to continue speaking to each other, and so informed everyone that they'd break up for lunch a little early. They'd return to try again in an hour's time.

Knowing that every second would count if the director meant to spend some of that hour talking some sense into Andrew, Harry hurried over to slide his arm through Eggsy's and started dragging him off without a word to Andrew, since that would only make things worse for all involved.

And it could always get worse on this show.

)

Ignoring Eggsy's mutterings about Andrew and how Harry shouldn't have interfered, Harry got them to the buffet tables without incident, the line not bad at all as they waited for their turn. It all smelled good, and Harry focused on that for the time being, lest he be tempted to point out that Andrew would be far more bearable if Harry had stayed away, instead of letting Eggsy talk him into this in the first place.

Thankfully Eggsy was annoyed enough that the boy didn't seem to realize Harry was tuning him out for the moment. But he tuned back in when it was their turn to collect plates, Harry picking one up and holding it out to Eggsy.

Taking the plate Eggsy finally turned his attention to the food too. "At least that pompous windbag didn't kill my appetite. Though it was a close call." Eggsy's next words were said quietly enough that only Harry could hear him. "Just remember we've gotta watch what we eat, yeah?"

"Unfortunately." Harry agreed, though he shared a pleased smile with Eggsy.

That 'Secret Service' was going to get a sequel, well that had gone without saying after the wild and unexpected popularity of the first one. But as his character had been shot in the head in the first movie Harry had never thought, no matter how the fans called for it, that Galahad would be resurrected. The move had been absurd at times, but bringing his character back from the dead…

But the director and writers involved had found a way, and of course he'd agreed to return to the role. The chance to play a character he actually had a lot in common with, character wise, was a joy he rarely got to experience, on top of the chance to play a bad ass. He NEVER got to play a badass.

Plus he got to wear an eyepatch. And looked damn good in it, if he did say so himself.

For the time being the nature of his return was being kept under wraps, which Harry was just fine with, but he couldn't wait until the marketing people started tossing out the teaser posters he'd been told about. Though the real fun would be when shooting started, which was still being worked out since both he and Eggsy were tied up in Kingsman for the next little white.

Unfortunately.

But in the meantime they needed to work on getting back into spy shape, which would not be fun, but not nearly as difficult as the first time. As Merlin had said he'd managed to keep a lot of the muscle he'd put on for the role, and now it was just a case of building up core strength while not putting as much muscle on, since he was recovering from a bullet wound.

So bring on the rabbit food, Harry thought with a good natured sigh.

)

So like all the fans of the first movie I've seen and freaked out over the first trailer for the 'Kingsman' sequel. Watching it also reminded me that I hadn't mentioned it here, which, given that it takes place in the present, was an oversight. Hence it being mentioned at the end here, though with a much later release date since they haven't filmed it yet. I can't wait!


	6. Acting In Character

Note: So I don't work in the TV business so I only have a little knowledge of how the shows are shot, and even that mostly comes from books or shows I've watched over the years. So I'm going to do my best and hope for the best heh. Thanks for reading!

Acting In Character

Leaning back in his assigned chair with a relieved sigh, Harry watched the hustle and bustle around him with an absent smile on his face. It was a bit of a mind trip, really, being back at Kingsman after all these years. So many familiar faces and voices, so many stories ingrained in the props and sets he'd visited today and would in the future. He'd had some very happy times here, Harry mused, when he wasn't thinking about ripping his hair out in frustration. Both were states of being Harry expected to be in a lot over the next few months, especially the latter if Andrew didn't get over himself.

But they'd finally finished the pub scene, and now they were setting up for the scene between him and Eggsy in his room at the inn. It was probably a little overoptimistic of the director to think that they'd get much before they needed to wrap it for the night, but the man seemed to think that they should see if they couldn't make up some of the time they'd lost earlier. And he was right to think that unlike Andrew he and Eggsy were professionals who weren't in the habit of needing many retakes. They knew what they were doing after all.

Glancing in Eggsy's direction Harry saw that the boy was still deep in discussion with Mark, Eggsy explaining some aspect of the man's phone to him. Eggsy had kept his promise to re explain some of his phone's features to him over lunch, and now everyone Harry's age seemed to have tech questions for the poor boy to answer. Not that he seemed to mind.

Sensing a now familiar gaze on him again, Harry looked under his lashes a little to confirm that yes, Lil was back in his vicinity and watching him again. Not openly glaring at him, or even being particularly obvious about it, but still…decades of being watched had given him a nicely developed sixth sense about this sort of thing.

And thinking to at least try to bury the hatchet, and not in his back like she might be imagining, Harry got up from his chair and headed towards her, silently amused a little as it visibly dawned on her that he was coming straight for her. Though she didn't back down, which Harry considered a point in her favor.

Stopping when there was a respectable distance between them, no reason to spook her further, Harry held out a hand in her direction. "Hello. I don't believe we've ever been introduced. Harry Hart."

"I know who you are. Who doesn't, here? You coming back is all anyone's been talking about since the word broke. Not that I can see why." The curl of her lips could only be described as a sneer. "I mean it's not like you're an A lister in Hollywood or anything."

A lister, no. Not really. But he had won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, AND the Volpi Cup. And was damn proud of that, thank you very much.

Dropping his hand Harry shoved both into his pockets as he kept her pinned by his gaze. "True enough, I suppose, though I'm never without interesting work, which is all that matters, really. How about you? I don't believe I recognize you from anywhere but Kingsman, and I'm afraid I'm still at a loss for your name. No one's mentioned it."

She wanted to be bitchy? She could bring it on. He'd been in this business for DECADES.

And apparently she wasn't done, as her next comment proved.

"Well it's not like we travel in the same circles, now is it? You're what, old enough to be my grandad at this point. Doing mostly character roles as well. Nothing big aside from 'Secret Service'. No surprise, really, then, that you aren't aware of the new generation."

Harry prided himself on being an excellent judge when it came to age, so he deliberately added some years to her presumed age as he stated that he wasn't so old that he could have a granddaughter in her early thirties.

Rage turned her cheeks dark red. "I'm twenty five!"

"Ah. My apologies. It must be the lighting and makeup." Not.

"You're an arse."

Well that was a rather pathetic resort. "As you're the one so rudely refusing to even give me your name, I'd say that title is yours. Particularly when you're a struggling actress still trying to find a spot in an industry I've been in for decades. And have many friends in."

Ah, so not so stupid that it was dawning her that making an enemy of him could hurt her career. A lot. Not that he would stoop to that level just because she was being nasty to him. He wouldn't lower himself to her level, but still…he waited until she'd lost all the color in her face before correcting the awful thoughts now circle in her mind.

"I have no intention of sabotaging you, young lady. I have a feeling you'll continue to do that on your own without my help. But I do strongly suggest that you stop giving me dirty looks or you will make an enemy not just of me, but others on this set and in our business."

Point made Harry inclined his head slightly and then turned on his heels, giving her his back as he took a step, only for his gaze to be caught by another gaze.

This one was dark, Eggsy obviously having read the body language between him and Lil enough to know that whatever Harry had been discussing with the girl, it hadn't been a pleasant conversation. That Eggsy hadn't come over and interfered was appreciated, Harry lengthening his stride to get to the boy faster lest Eggsy change his mind about coming over and potentially causing a scene.

And of course Eggsy hurried over to meet him halfway, the first words out of the boy's mouth the question of what Lil had said to him.

"Nothing you need worry about. Though what is her last name? She wouldn't tell me and it's going to annoy me."

"You could just look it up on your phone. But it's Arden. Or at least professionally it is. Don't know if that's what she was born with."

Eggsy tugged on the sleeve of his jumper like a little boy trying to gain an adult's attention. "Do I need ta talk ta her? I'm serious, Harry. She's got a nasty tongue on her when ya get on her bad side, and knowin her, she'll put ya there just cause you're my mate. I'm high on her hit list these days."

Eyes narrowed, Harry asked if he should be the one having another talk with her. He wouldn't stand by quietly if this woman was causing Eggsy problems personally or professionally.

"Naw. I can handle her. Specially since her days are numbered round here from what I'm hearing. She ain't that good an actress, and the fans don't like her."

"Well should you require assistance I can have her fired. Or at least blacklisted enough that she can't get decent work anywhere."

Eggsy laughed. "Well ain'tcha my knight in shining armor."

Flushing a little, Harry decided it was time to change the subject, and asked if Eggsy knew how much longer they had before the next round of shooting.

"Shouldn't be much longer. Somethin bout the lightin. Nervous?"

"Nervous? Is there some reason why should I be nervous?"

"Well cause this is our big first sex scene together."

What the…

"What are you talking about? The last script I saw we aren't even supposed to kiss in this scene." He wasn't ready, Harry thought desperately. He wasn't in the proper mindset and hadn't had time to prepare or see to things beforehand so that any physical reactions he might have were-

"Technically I'm kissin ya on the forehead." Eggsy corrected him with a betraying little smirk. "And I just meant, for ya, me undressin ya down ta your pants is pretty kinky, right?"

Harry was very, very tempted to box Eggsy's ears, but forced himself to settle for a look that hopefully conveyed how very unamused he was with him.

Judging from the way the prat grinned back at him, it wasn't working.

Though thank heavens he'd caught himself before pointing out that this wouldn't be the first time Eggsy had helped him undress. Knowing his luck someone would record it on their bloody phone and it would be all over the internet in an hour, taken completely out of context. Both times had been absolutely innocent, thank you very much. The one time he'd just been too drunk to manage the buttons and such, and the other time he'd been half frozen during a skiing trip and Eggsy had again just been helpful so that he could get in the hot tub faster.

The thought that this time he wouldn't he pissed or all but frozen to death…well he would be playing Colin, so any embarrassment or more…inappropriate reactions could be blamed on him being in character. Please God.

"For the last time, Eggsy, I am more than capable of doing a sex scene."

"I'm sure you'll do fine." Was Eggsy's deliberately condescending response, the little brat patting Harry's arm in a consolatory manner. "And even if ya aren't the greatest, at least you'll look fucking aces while doing it."

"Thank you."

"No problem. I mean ya won't look nearly as hot as I will…"

"Shut up, Eggsy."

Eggsy's evil snickering did nothing to make him feel better.

)

When the director announced they were ready for the actors to get into position Harry paused only long enough to assure the very tired looking man that this would be a lot less stressful for him before joining Eggsy at the opening that represented the doorway that would lead into the room Colin would be staying in for the length of his visit.

As soon as he was in position Eggsy wrapped an arm around his waist, Harry's questioning look answered with a shrug as Eggsy pointed out that Colin was both jetlagged and a little pissed at the moment. He would need the support.

Since he couldn't recall argue with that, and they had yet to film the outdoor scene of Taron walking him home from the pub so it wasn't out of character for them as yet, Harry nodded and leaned a bit of his weight on his friend as he slipped into Colin's skin. Exhausted, heart sore, and as aware of the man beside him as he could be at the moment.

Eggsy, for his part, appeared to be himself, but that only made sense as the character he played was himself in a lot of ways. Or at least the version of himself he'd wanted people to see when he'd first started out in this industry. There were still many similarities, but Harry knew both men well enough to know the differences.

And then before his eyes Eggsyy's body language change in some subtle way Harry couldn't have explained, but signaled to him that Taron was front and center.

When he looked the set was looking its age to Harry's discerning eye, but there was a homey charm about it that would have appealed to him, had it been his actual room in some English inn. Well, he could have done without the cabbage rose wallpaper, but that was faded enough not to be too much of an eye sore. The standard furniture was well tended, the quilt appealing fluffy looking, and the suitcase and clothes draped over a chair marked it as Colin's for the time being.

On the director's cue Eggsy 'opened' the door and helped him into the room, talking a mile a minute about his latest book tour and the insanity he'd encountered while gently leading him straight over to the bed. And when he was gently pushed into sitting on the end of the bed he didn't argue, Harry widening his eyes dramatically when 'Taron' dropped to his knees in front of him.

"Taron, what are you-"

"Just gettin your boots off, Bruv." A teasing wink. "Can't sleep with them on, now can ya? Not ta mention Mrs. Charlotte would kill ya dead, if ya tracked mud in ta her sheets."

Making a sound of agreement, as well as forcefully relaxing the body that had gone stiff with tension, Harry absently watched as his boots were removed, Eggsy getting back up to put them away before coming back over to offer him his hands to pull him up.

Letting himself be pulled up Harry started to thank him for his help, the words dying on his lips as Eggsy's hands grasped the hem of his jumper, pulling it up so that Harry automatically moved his arms to help as the jumper was pulled up and over his head so that he was now shirtless.

And then he was the recipient of a truly rakish grin as Eggsy asked him if he needed help with his trousers.

"No. No of course not."

"All right then. Get them off then and into bed with ya. I'm gonna go find ya a glass of water and somethin ta take tomorrow when your head starts a pounding."

"There's no need, really. I can get it for myself. This isn't necessary. Though thank you for seeing me back here, you were right about how exhausted I was and…" Cutting himself off like a man who'd realized he was about to start rambling like an idiot, Harry's brought color to his cheeks as he stared at the floor in supposed embarrassment.

"I ain't leavin till you're snug in bed for the night. So either ya tell me where your stuff is and I get it for ya, or I help ya in ta that bed."

Well if those were his two choices…

"Ah…in the bathroom. Thank you."

Eggsy gave him a cocky salute and then headed off in the direction of the other fake door, while Harry immediately turned his attention toy removing his trousers as clumsily as possible as he rushed to get them off and himself under the covers as quickly as possible.

Just for a bit of humor Harry deliberately pretended to rap his shin in the process of getting into the bed, cursing in hopefully impossible to understand mumbles for a moment before remembering what he needed to do.

Which was why Harry had just gotten in and the covers over his lap when Eggsy came back in with a glass of water in one hand and the pill bottle in the other.

"Everythin all right?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Playing with the bedcovers for something to do, Harry glanced over when Eggsy was in range to set down the water on the nightstand, followed by the pill bottle for him.

Glancing up then Harry felt the punch of Eggsy's look, his own reaction thankfully one that Colin would have too, as he stared at the tenderness in Eggsy's eyes before the boy's lashes lowered, hiding his thoughts and emotions from him.

"You're goin in tomorrow morning, ain'tcha? Ta see your mum."

Remembering his line after a moment of blanking, Harry stared down at his lap as he answered. "Yes. I'm to meet the inspector in charge of her case at the mortuary at ten."

"I'll set your alarm for you then. And meet you in the lobby at nine thirty. Don't suppose you'll be wanting to eat before, right?"

Head whipping up, Harry stared at Eggsy as he turned his attention to fiddling with the alarm clock. "What are you…why would you…?"

Eggsy glanced over at him. "Ya don't think I'm gonna let ya go alone, do ya? Ta see your mum like that by yourself. I know Mac ain't goin with ya. He wouldn't have the stomach for it." A shake of his head. "I can handle it, and I'm comin so don't even think of tryin ta dodge me."

Gratitude warred with common sense. "I can't ask you to do that."

"Ya didn't ask. I'm tellin ya I'm goin. Now go ta sleep. I'll see myself out. Good night."

And then Eggsy leaned forward and pressed the lightest of kisses on his forehead before all but running out of the room, leaving 'Colin' to stare after him with a stunned expression, while inside Harry was congratulating them both on a scene well done.

"Cut!"

Sound immediately erupting as people commented on what they'd just shot, the director called out for the set to be changed so that they could get different camera angles to now capture Eggsy's facial expressions when they were interacting with each other, to be pieced in during editing.

Knowing he had a few minutes, and the idea of just staying in the bed didn't appeal, Harry threw off the covers and slid off the bed, walking over to retrieve his trousers and slip them on. He didn't bother with the jumper since he knew from reading the script that the shots they were aiming for now would be after he was naked from the waist up.

Eggsy of course came bounding over, all smiles as he left the set to get feedback and direction if necessary.

His orders to the crew given, the director turned his attention to them, all smiles this time.

"You two, that was bloody brilliant. You played that perfectly." The director grinned at them. "Think you can do it again, so we actually finish our assigned workload tonight?"

"Just leave it to us." Was Eggsy's smug reply.


	7. A Matter of Trust

A Matter of Trust

It had been a long day, longer than Harry had had to work in a while, actually, but they were back on schedule after their rather disastrous morning. And the director was pleased with what they'd filmed which was equally important since reshoots were never fun after the first ten times or so. This was also his first time working with this particular director, and Harry expressed the hope that they'd be working together on the show often during his brief return, as he very much appreciated a director who realized when it was best to give his actors their head and let them show what they could do without being micromanaged.

"Oh I can do that too." The director assured him, giving him a knowing look. "But I don't think you and Eggsy will need that if you're always like this together. Roman told me that you two have chemistry, and I loved you guys in 'The Secret Service' so I had some idea, but bloody hell, when the two of you let loose I actually get why my daughter 'ships' you two, as she puts it."

"Ah, yes. I recall Eggsy bringing by a print for me to sign so that you could give it to her as a birthday present." He was going to ignore the whole 'shipping' comment for the sake of his mental wellbeing.

"Made me her hero, especially as Eggsy was willing to call her and wish her a happy birthday himself. You'd have thought I gave her the Crown Jewels."

"Well I would imagine he was happy to do it. He loves his fans."

"That he does. And I should let you get back to him, shouldn't I; since he's your ride home if I'm not mistaken."

Normally Harry would have welcomed the chance to get to know the director better, build a rapport as it were to insure the coming months went as well as possible, but at the moment he wasn't at all interested in talking about his 'chemistry' or relationship with Eggsy, and so jumped on the excuse as it were.

Holding out his hand Harry shook the director's warmly. "I'm afraid you're right. We'll have to talk more another time."

"I'll look forward to it." A pause. "And apologies if bringing up your chemistry with Eggsy makes you uncomfortable. I would imagine it gets annoying after a while as you two are just friends."

Well he'd always thought an observant director to be a good thing. "More like it puzzles me."

"The human mind's ability to shape how we see things is a fascinating thing." The director agreed, something about the other man's tone tempting Harry to ask what he meant by that while basic self-preservation instincts had him keeping his mouth shut. Maybe another time. Instead he switched the topic over to talking shop as they walked back towards the set that would be Colin's home for the time being. Eggsy had said he'd meet him there.

And the boy was there, as promised, though both the director and Harry hadn't expected to find him…well, sleeping.

The chair in the fake inn room had Eggsy's jacket and hat on it, and the ridiculous adorable Adidas shoes the boy loved so much were shoved underneath it for safe keeping.

Eggsy, well Eggsy was currently a lump under the covers laid out on the bed in the middle of the set, only the top of his tousled hair visible to them from where they were standing. The steady rise and fall of the blanket mound indicated deep sleep to Harry, not that he was surprised. This was Eggsy, after all.

"He can literally sleep anywhere. It's one of his greatest talents."

Laughter in his voice the director agreed that he could see that.

Though it was odd to Harry that the boy was this tired as Eggsy was usually pretty good about getting enough sleep before shooting. Not that Eggsy didn't go out and party like any other boy his age, Eggsy was incredibly sociable and had many friends, but Harry had also impressed upon him the importance of moderation when one had other people counting on him, and Eggsy had never let him down yet.

Well at least he'd held up for filming, Harry mused, and wasn't hungover. Probably a late night Netflix binge or something.

Shaking his head Harry walked over to stand beside the bed and reached out a hand to start pulling at the covers. He had to give them several good tugs before he finally got them loose enough that he could throw them back to reveal Eggsy underneath, the boy still fast asleep from the looks of him.

"This was so much easier when he was younger."

"Mr. Hart?"

"Believe it or not, back in the day I could have just carried him to the car. I'd snap my back in half if I tried it these days."

Getting old sucked.

And that being the case Harry had no choice but to gently shake Eggsy awake, the boy grumbling in response. And then Eggsy's hand felt around him as he obviously sought the covers again so that he could burrow into them again. But Harry knew from experience to keep them out of Eggsy's grasp so that the boy couldn't go all pill bug on him, and yanked them well out of reach.

It took some doing and more shaking, but finally the lashes came up and hints of Eggsy's green eyes looked in his direction.

"Time to go home."

Eggsy sighed as long and drawn out as he could manage before reluctantly sitting up and rubbing his eyes, belatedly realizing that they weren't alone on the set. "Sorry ta mush things up a tad, Fletcher. I'll put it ta rights again."

"That would be best, yes." Sounding amused the director asked him if he'd had a good nap.

"Yeah. Dinna get enough sleep last night." A covered yawn. "Me mate Jamal had another fight with his lady, and that meant him keepin me up half the night with his bitchin and complainin bout her. Ugh. She ain't worth it as far as I'm concerned, which I told him, but does he listen? No. Harry knows."

"Jane is a lovely young lady. He just needs to stop flirting with that other girl."

"Jane dumped him and he's dating Carrie again."

"Ah. Then yes, she isn't worth him getting angsty about unless it's over his own stupidity where women are concerned." Harry knew all of Eggsy's friends, and liked Jamal well enough, but the boy did have a number of bad habits when it came to women.

"Too right."

"Well discussing Jamal's love life would keep us here all night, so might I suggest instead you get out of that bed and dressed so that I can get you fed and then back into your proper bed. I'll take care of this one for you."

Smiling sweetly, Eggsy thanked him as he slid off the bed and headed over to the chair to get his stuff, asking Fletcher what he was still doing here while Harry turned his attention to fixing the covers so that it wasn't obvious Eggsy had been napping in it.

Working quickly and efficiently Harry had the bed to rights by the time Eggsy had finished tying his shoelaces and Fletcher had finished summing up him having spent some time chatting with Harry.

Pointing at the bed Eggsy thanked Harry for making it for him.

"No problem. Now give me the keys. I'm driving."

Eggsy slapped a hand over the pocket Harry assumed he'd stashed his keys in. "Ahh…."

"Eggsy, I'm not going to crash your car. And you're still half asleep."

"But it's my baby!"

"You trust me with Daisy."

"But that's different!" Eggsy protested. "A child's never died under your care before!"

"So I've dented a few-"

"You kill cars, Harry. I love you more than life itself, and would trust ya with my sister in a heartbeat, but I ain't lettin ya drive my car. It's just not…no. If ya want I'll down a Red Bull or somethin before I get behind the wheel if ya want assurance I'm awake, but you ain't drivin my car."

The sound of muffled laughter had both men looking over at the director, who currently had one hand over his mouth and the other wrapped around his waist, his frame shaking with amusement.

"You could always let him drive you home too." Eggsy suggested dryly.

"Oh for…nevermind. Lovely to meet you, Fletcher. I'm looking forward to working with you in the future. Eggsy…let's go. And you're paying for supper now."

"Deal. So long as I'm driving."

"Fine."

And off they went, Harry pointing out that it was Eggsy, not him, who had driven a car backward through London and demolished it at the end. So really Eggsy didn't have a leg to stand on in this argument. Which, as per usual when they had this argument, had Eggsy arguing that since he'd only crashed the car to save the life of an innocent bystander Harry couldn't use the whole crashing it against him. If not for that bloody animal he wouldn't have so much as scratched it.

Right.

)

The next day's filming saw Eggsy and Harry strolling through a small park while Harry pretended to recover from the strain of seeing his character's mother at the mortuary. A scene that they hadn't filmed yet, but that Eggsy was looking forward to since he loved his cop dramas and medical mysteries. Personally Harry often found them all rather cut from the same cloth, as it were, but then there were only so many that could exist before endless repetition was unavoidable.

And a man who'd appeared on a soap for as long as Harry had knew he had had no room to judge.

As per the script Eggsy was rambling on about the book Taron was currently working on, the plot of which did sound somewhat interesting and would have made a decent read if actually written. Not that that was a talent Eggsy actually possessed. The boy refused to use proper spelling and grammar all the time. Some of the notes and texts he'd sent him over the years had made Harry want to write exceedingly harsh letters to every English teacher the boy had had during the course of his education. Or lack thereof.

Lifting his face towards the sun for a moment, it was a nice treat to be out in it to enjoy the surprisingly lovely weather they were having, Harry didn't look away from the blue sky as they walked until a small voice spoke up when Eggsy had paused in his plotting, this being the spot where he was supposed to once again ask Colin if he was alright.

Instead, both of them looked down to see an unfamiliar child of about four staring up at them.

"Scuze me. My kite got stuck in the tree. Can you get it down for me, please?"

"William!"

An extra, who'd probably been assigned to at the very least watch over the child in question, came hurrying over full of apologies for the interruption. She'd only looked away for a moment of course, and when she'd turned around he'd been gone.

"No problem." Hunkering down Eggsy asked the boy which tree his kite was stuck in.

Taking Eggsy hand and tugging on it as an indication to follow, Eggsy did so while leaving Harry to deal with the woman still apologizing for the boy, who was apparently actually her son.

Thankfully he didn't have to deal with the woman's flustered ramblings for long because William was making a lot of noise, which drew their attention to the fact that he was now jumping up and down at the base of a rather large tree. Eggsy nowhere in sight.

Which did not bode well to Harry's way of thinking.

"Excuse me."

Hurrying over with his head up to desperately search the tree's branches for signs of Eggsy, Harry soon caught sight of him thanks to the bright red scarf he'd been wearing. And he was…very high up to Harry's way of thinking.

And as yelling at him might lead to the boy plummeting to his untimely death before Harry could cause it for worrying him so, Harry had to settled for standing at the base of the tree and waiting until Eggsy was looking down at him before he called out for him to be careful. And to use what little caution he had for God sakes.

"Yes, Dear!"

Rolling his eyes Harry looked down at the little boy beside him. "I really can't take him anywhere."

"I heard that!"

"You were meant to!"

Giggling, the boy looked quite amused by them.

The mother, whose name was Susan, joined them at the tree, and Harry was once again busy reassuring her that no harm was done and that Eggsy would be fine for the duration of the climb. Because of course the sodding kite had had to fly so high into the bloody tree.

A hand on his shoulder gently pushed him to take a step to the side, Harry looked over to glare at the cameraman who was apparently recording all this. Which was so not necessary since it wasn't like they could use any of this in the show. Probably for the eventual DVD releases, bonus feature stuff, and really, how could-

"Down it comes!" Eggsy called out, having apparently reached the kite in question. And threw it up and into the air so that it came crashing back towards land well away from the tree. Though the wind caught it and only quick thinking on the mother's part had her grabbing it before the pesky wind could send the kite flying off into some other tree.

"They've got it. Now take your time climbing down, you hear me? And no you jumping out either. I'll turn you over my knee and paddle you if you do. This is not going to be a repeat of Toronto, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Harry!"

"Don't yes, Harry, me in that tone of voice." Harry muttered, though of course not loud enough for Eggsy to hear. It would rather defeat the purpose if he made the little idiot fall by yelling at him at a bad time.

Though it was Eggsy who was yelling a minute later, his language such that it was for the best that the boy had gone running off with his kite again with his mother once again keeping an eyes on him. Or trying too. As it was Harry didn't even care about that because he was too busy calling up to make sure Eggsy was all right.

Eggsy called down that he was all right, but Harry wasn't about to believe that given that Eggsy was very good about minding his language in the presence of small children. Or at least always apologized immediately when he did.

But Eggsy didn't come crashing down from the tree either, and eventually he came into view and then jumped down a little sooner than Harry would have liked. But he handed the dismount perfectly, so to speak, and then immediately stuck his hands behind his back like that wouldn't immediately tip Harry off that something was wrong with them.

"Sorry that took so long. I'll be righ-"

"Eggsy. Show me your hands."

"My hands? Wot would you need thems for? They just need a good-"

"Eggsy." Harry said again, taking a step forward for emphasis this time. "Let me see them."

"Ain't nothin ta see!"

Crossing his arms in front of him Harry didn't even bother to speak this time. He let his 'you have till the count of three and then you'll be very sorry' look he'd developed long ago to deal with his young relatives and friends' offspring. And Eggsy.

"I just don't want a repeat of Toronto!"

Harr went pale. "You went and broke a bone again?! Is it sticking out? What did you break?!"

"Don't be daft. If I'd done that I'd be in more-sod it."

Heaving a big sigh Eggsy brought his hands around to show Harry, who immediately moved in to wrap his fingers around the boy's wrists.

"Dammit, Eggsy."

There was blood, though not nearly as much as he'd been expecting given Eggsy theatrics. Not to mention the cause of the bleeding wasn't a friggin BONE sticking out of the boy's flesh like in Toronto. No, what was sticking out of the boy's skin this time around was some rather large splinters.

"Wood was already broken off, must have lost the limb not too long ago from the looks of it. My foot slipped on a bloody branch and I grabbed it with both hands…which proved not ta be the best idea I've ever had. But it ain't bad at all, really, Harry. I just need ta get them out is all."

Doing some sighing of his own because really, what was he going to do with Eggsy, Harry told him to take a seat on the grass and he'd go get some tweezers from someone to take them out.

"I can take them out."

"Yes you could." Not. "But I'm going to do it and you're going to let me. Understand?"

Given the amused look Eggsy gave him Harry wasn't the least surprised when the boy impishly stated that Harry was dead sexy when he got all domy with him.

"Remind me not to care about your comfort while I'm taking those out."

And so saying Harry went off to find a pair of tweezers while Eggsy call after him that he was beautiful when he was angry, which of course meant Harry had to give him the two finger salute.

"He loves me madly." Eggsy was saying, possibly to the cameraman who Harry now realized was probably still taping all of this. "It's adorable, ain't it?"

"Adorable." The cameraman agreed.


	8. Like In A Movie

Like In A Movie

Of course they wanted to use the whole tree climbing incident for the show. Harry rather supposed he was an idiot for not realizing they would as soon as the camera had moved in beside him. And probably even before then since he had been around long enough to know the caliber of television they were filming. Eggsy hadn't been remotely surprised. Had outright laughed over his own surprise even though not on it had been a laughing matter. Eggsy had been bleeding, for Christ sakes!

One thing they'd both agreed on though was that it was annoying as hell to let them record him removing the splinters from Eggsy's hand. Removing splinters was never an easy process to begin with, much less when they were as deep as Eggsy's had been. Though at least there was some amusement to be had given that there wouldn't be a lot of footage they could use unless they were fine with having to bleep out every other word that had come out of Eggsy's potty mouth.

But at least they'd be able to use the scene where he put antibiotic cream on the wounds and wrapped up the hand to keep it clean, which seemed to satisfy the director somewhat. Though Eggsy did get called out for his language afterwards and had apologized for with absolutely zero sincerity. And now that the lecture was over it was time for Harry to make sure that Eggsy was able to eat the lunch provided before he headed out for the day.

Looking at Eggsy, who was staring at his bandaged hands with a scowl, Harry shook his head but didn't comment. Eggsy knew better than to even think of trying to get rid in the wrappings while he was still there.

Unfortunately he didn't have any more scenes scheduled to film that day which was why he'd scheduled a late lunch with Merlin and another meeting with his tailor for later in the afternoon. That meant that he couldn't stick around to make sure Eggsy took proper care of himself in the two scenes the boy was scheduled to appear in after lunch. One Eggsy only had to make a quick appearance in, which was good given the state of his hands, while the other would be a much more important scene featuring just Eggsy. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long since Harry had every confidence in Eggsy's ability to pull off the pivotal scene wherein Taron reread the letter Colin had slipped into his favorite book before gifting it to the boy years before. The letter had already been written for Eggsy to read and react to, and Harry was schedule to record his reading of the letter in a couple days so that it could be used as a voiceover, since the audience wouldn't be able to read the letter itself.

"So 'ow am I gonna eat with hands like this?"

Harry answered to deliberately annoy. "Do you mean 'How am I going to eat with my hands like this?'"

The two fingered salute he got didn't surprise him in the slightest.

"How eloquent. I think some of my good manners are rubbing off on you."

"Really, Arry? You're gonna give me an opening like that?"

"If you weren't injured I'd smack you upside the head."

"Wow. Rubbin one off on me AND smackin me around. Aren't we the interestin couple?"

It was tempting to box the boy's ears, just on principle, but that would only lead to more of Eggsy's smart mouth. He was more than capable of giving as good as he got…but that would not end well. And there were too many people around.

"So you ain't answered my question. I mean ya'd think ya'd begun the mummification process here. Startin with my hands." Eggsy held them up for emphasis. "Death is only the beginning."

Getting the reference immediately, he was a big fan of the nineties version of 'The Mummy', Harry smirked as he stated that he had no problem imagining Eggsy getting frisky with the pharaoh's daughter. Or mistress if one was being accurate to the storylines.

"We should watch that again and the sequel." Eggsy stated with a grin that only got wider with his next words. "Did I ever tell ya that I once had a dream where we was in that movie? You was Evie and I had ta go and rescue you from Merlin before he put Ancksunamun into ya. He could so totally play that guy in the movie, right? They even sorta look a little alike. I totally kicked some serious arse."

"And exactly why was I the damsel in distress?"

"Cause you sacrificed yourself to try and save us from the people sufferin from that last plague of Egypt?"

"Given that I could carry you, but you couldn't carry me, I think I'm more suited to be the knight in shining armor than you."

Eggsy puffed up in indignation. "Oi, you'd put your sodding back out just tryin! And I could carry ya. In one of them…fireman's hold thingie? We'd look fuckin ridiculous cause of the height difference, but I'd get ya out. And when you think about it ya gotta admit that you have way more in common with Evie than ya do Rick."

Harry silently had to admit that that was true. "Fine, I'm Ardeth and you can be Rick."

"That's…oh right. The man with the face tattoos. He was hot. Don't think you've got the face ta pull that look off. Sorry."

"No offense taken." And since they'd arrived at their destination Harry put a halt to their conversation for now. "Go find us some seats and I'll make you up a plate."

"And just 'ow are you gonna manage two plates AND fill em?"

"Eggsy. Seats. Now."

"Yes, Master." Eggsy shot back in his best 'Igor' voice.

Harry thought about pointing out that as the older of the two of them, and the one who'd done a great deal more theatre work than Eggsy, he should be the overly dramatic one. Then thought better of it. That would only encourage Eggsy to argue with him further or say something even more dramatic. Or make a joke about being drama queens.

So instead he let it be and walked over in the direction of the buffet, loading up a plate with food for the brat as well as grabbing a bottle of water while he was at it. Mission completed Harry then turned to scan the space until he located Eggsy sitting with someone he didn't recognize.

Walking over to join them Harry took a seat beside Eggsy, grateful that the other man was sitting facing Eggsy since he needed to be close.

"-and then I said ta him, I said-hey, Harry. Thanks. Though ya should have just let me go with ya, cause now ya gotta go back and get yours."

Ignoring him for the moment Harry looked over the contents of the plate and then picked up one of the sandwich halves and held it out in Eggsy's direction. "As it happens I don't need to get a plate for myself as I have a late lunch meeting set up with Merlin. Now open up."

"Wot?"

"You can't use your hands right now and you'll get your bandages dirty if you use them. So open up."

Eggsy's cheeks flooded with color as he stated that Harry couldn't be serious.

"You need your bandages clean for filming. And the last thing you need is those scratches getting infected either. So hurry up and let me help you eat your lunch so that I'm not late to meet Merlin. You know how cranky he gets when even I make him wait." Harry glanced over in the direction of their seat companion. "Please tell him I'm right, Mr…?"

"You can just call me Tim, Mr. Hart. I'm in wardrobe. And listen to him, Eggsy. "

There was definite humor in Tim's eyes, which Harry doubted would help his case.

"Do you really want to have this argument with an audience?"

That worked, as Eggsy looked from him to Tim and then opened his mouth as ordered with a bashful look of resignation.

Harry shoved the sandwich corner in before Eggsy could close it.

"Are you two always like this?"

From a nearby table a group of six people all said 'yes' in perfect, loud unison.

And also in synch, Harry and Eggsy turned in their seats and gave them the two finger salute.

)

It came as no surprise when their table soon filled up with cast and crew members. Both he and Eggsy had a lot of friends on set. And once the table was full people kept dropping by to ask about Eggsy's hands, razz Eggsy about being handfed, and/or make observations and comments about the nature of Harry's relationship with Eggsy. Like when they might possibly hear the sound of wedding bells. Or at least the two of them going at it in a dressing room.

The latter comments they were used to, and easily ignored.

Harder to ignore was the fact that not four tables away , facing them, was a reporter and cameraman interviewing Andrew about this coming season of 'Kingsman' and presumably whatever acting the man was doing outside of playing Jack. Harry didn't bother to keep track of what Andrew was involved in. Other than to make sure they didn't have to appear in anything together.

Now if the reporter and cameraman's full attention had been on Andrew it would have been fine. For the best, really, as Andrew loved the press and was always thrilled to give interviews. It would have meant he'd be in a good, cooperative mood for whoever had to deal with him for the rest of the day. But they were not giving Andrew their full attention. They were paying far too much to their table, which Andrew was very much aware of. The man was a prat, not dim.

To give Andrew his due, however it pained Harry, the other man did try to handle it professionally at first. A quick shifting of his chair and then pretending to get more comfortable, all the while putting himself in a position that meant the cameraman wouldn't have a clear shot of both Harry and Eggsy. Which worked. For a couple minutes. And then the cameraman moved for what he probably tried to explain away as a better angle. Not. So Harry had quietly asked Tim and another of Eggsy's friends, Trina, to move a little over so that they were blocking the cameraman's view at least a little bit. And that worked for another few more minutes until the cameraman decided the old angle was better.

Logically Harry knew that if he stopped feeding Eggsy interest in them would probably decrease to a more manageable degree, but at the same time Eggsy did have to eat and he…was opposed to the idea of someone else feeding Eggsy this way. Particularly since after the first few minutes of being fed Eggsy had saw the humor in the situation and started acting like he was some sultan or lazy king.

Case in point Eggsy's next request, spoken in a lord of the manor tone of voice. "More of the carrot sticks, please, Harry."

Lips curving a little in amusement Harry did as asked and held one up for Eggsy to start biting pieces off of while Andrew's voice got noticeably louder. A tactic to get the reporter's attention, he assumed, since being louder than everyone else in a crowded room was pretty much guaranteed to get you more attention.

"Fifty says he storms out of here in a huff in the next three minutes." Mark stated casually, amusement on his face.

"Oh he's not going to last much more than a minute. I'll take that bet." Tim reached out a hand to shake on it.

Tim won the bet at just over a minute later. Though Andrew more stomped off than stormed.

"Damn. Though the man does know how to flounce." Mark pulled out his wallet to pay up. "And here comes the press to talk with the two of you, I'm betting. Remember I'm going to me the best man at your wedding when she asks, yeah."

"Merlin's already called it." Harry and Eggsy stated as one.

While the rest of the table laughed Mark pointed out that since they were both men they could have two best mans.

"Ya want ta fight Roxy Morton for it?" Eggsy asked him with a devious gleam in his eyes.

"Ah…no."

"Cheers. And Harry, I'd make a run for it less ya want ta be bombarded with questions bout our relationship. This lot can help me finish up here. She'll go easier on me if I'm wounded and you ain't here ta feed the fire, so to speak. And it's about time you left anyway, ain't it?"

A glance at his watch confirmed that fact. And Eggsy logic about the reporter was sound.

"You all will take care of him in my absence?"

A round of agreement around the table.

"Then I will dash. Ring me if you need me to come pick you up after you're done for the day."

"As you wish."

"My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!" Tim piped up with a grin.

Holding up his hands Eggsy wore a put upon expression. "You mock my pain!"

With great affection Harry stroked a hand over Eggsy's hair as he got up to go. "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."

Leaving them to their quoting of 'Princess Bride', and trusting that someone at the table would let him know if he needed to come back to rescue Eggsy from some bit of male stupidity, Harry headed out just before the reporter managed to get away from the young actor who'd cornered her for a minute. He nodded on his way out to be polite, and understood completely the disappointed look she aimed in his direction.

)

One thing that Harry had always appreciated about Merlin was that the man had excellent taste in food. His agent didn't pick posh, overpriced places for meetings that were more about see and being seen than they were about good food and getting work done. The pub was one he'd been to before and the hostess knew him on sight and was quick to lead him over to their usual table where Merlin was busy working away on his tablet. Past experience had Harry thanking Cora before sliding into the booth across from his agent.

"Shooting went well today?"

"Eggsy injured his hands during a scene. Just splinters, but his hands will be in bandages for the next couple days. Though he's probably already removed the ones I put on." In hindsight he should have made Eggsy promise to keep them in place before he'd left.

"What happened?"

Briefly Harry outlined the tree incident. And the fact that they were going to be using it for the episode.

"Of course they are." Merlin shook his head.

"And you should know that a reporter and cameraman were there at lunch, doing an interview with Bookman. The cameraman wasn't terribly subtle about the fact that he was also trying to get footage of Eggsy and I. I would imagine there will be something about us online or in the news soon."

"Footage of you no doubt fussing over the lad like a mother hen? Of course he was more interested in that. I'll keep my eye out for it."

"I wasn't fussing."

Merlin just gave him a look that had Harry tempted to squirm in his seat. And probably would have if this wasn't a conversation they'd had numerous times in the past. And he could admit that he'd lost it a little bit, when Eggsy had been seriously injured before. He just…did not deal well with people he loved being in pain. It brought out the worrier in him.

"He'll be fine, Harry."

There was warm understanding in Merlin's eyes for the moment, and not wanting to see that, or acknowledge why his agent would be giving him that look, Harry cleared his throat and asked if Merlin had heard anything new from the producers for the planned sequel to 'Mamma Mia'. It seemed to be his decade for sequels.

"They've casted your younger self. Hugh Skinner."

Harry thought for a moment and then shook his head. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"He was in the latest movie version of 'Les Mis'. He also plays William in that God awful soap parodying the royal family. 'The Windsors'."

"Lovely. Is he any good?" Pulling out his own phone Harry started tapping on it, looking up when Merlin cleared his throat to get his attention. And saw that his agent had decided to spare him fighting with his phone and had a blown up shot of the actor on his tablet. From 'Les Miserables', Harry recognized. "Ah. Yes. He did well enough in that role at least."

"Well if he's horrible you can always sic Eggsy on him."

"What do you mean? You got him in a role in the movie?" This was the first Harry had heard about it. Who was Eggsy playing? Last he'd heard Dominic Cooper was playing the daughter's fiancé, but Eggsy was about the right age for Amanda's character as well he supposed. Or crap…his own love interest past or present? Again? Was Merlin trying to kill him?

"Oh keep your pants on, Harry. I just meant that as his schedule stands now Eggsy should be able to drop by to visit for a bit once filming starts. Some time at the beach would do him good, and he'll have your back if needed. Probably even do a free cameo for laughs."

"I don't need a babysitter."

"No, but you can be a right bastard when you're going through Eggsy withdrawal."

"Eggsy…that's not even a thing."

"It wasn't. Now it is."

Looking at Merlin's smirking face Harry kept his cool and calm through decades of hard training.

"You know, Merlin...seeing as I'm doing that other sequel, perhaps I should revisit the 'Manners Maketh Man' scene. Just to start getting back into the character. Care to participate?"

"Touché."


	9. Reasons To Sigh Out Loud

Reasons To Sigh Out Loud

Doing his best to ignore just how uncomfortable the chair he sat on was Harry turned his attention to accessing the picture Eggsy had apparently sent his phone. For some reason it wasn't loading properly and Harry was about ready to give up and ask someone for help with the blasted thing. Though it would probably be an incredibly easy thing to fix and he'd get the sideways 'how clueless is he' looks he often got from the younger generations when it came to his tech questions. He couldn't help it though. Technology communicated with each other, no one could convince him that they didn't, and so they knew he murdered their kind on a regular basis. Not on purpose of course, but there was just something about him that made machines roll over dead whenever they came into his possession. It was a documented phenomenon. Or at least a look at his credit card bills would confirm it. Ugh. If not for all the many, many drawbacks of previous centuries Harry would have wished he'd been born in a time before technology made the world go around and everyone was dependant on it.

Another text message popped up on his screen from Eggsy, Harry less than amused to see that the boy had intuited that his lack of response meant he couldn't access the picture. Ergo he'd sent him instructions on how to make sure his phone's settings were set to let him access the picture.

Sighing Harry did as suggested and found out that yes, his phone setting was the problem.

Fixing it, Harry soon found himself also looking at a picture of Eggsy showing off his palms to him. The wounds from the splinters were hardly visible, the faint lines only really obvious because Harry knew where to look.

'They look much better.' Harry typed out and texted to Eggsy.

'Told ya so.'

Rolling his eyes and opting not to argue since he was trying to prove to Eggsy and Merlin that he wasn't a complete mother hen where Eggsy was concerned Harry asked how filming was going at the studio. Today was his scheduled voice over work for Colin's letter and he hadn't seen Eggsy in person since their lunch after the tree incident.

'All right. Should finish on time.'

'Excellent.'

'Ready for your emotional reading of my letter?' Eggsy's next text asked, the emoji with it crying huge tears. Actually crying, as apparently emojis could do that now.

Blinking in surprise at the connotations of that once it sunk in, Harry texted back the question of whether or not Eggsy had actually cried after reading the letter. Because if he had…well shit.

The original letter the writers had composed had been all wrong for Colin and he'd told them so. Had been prepared to dig in his heels about it too, which he'd made quite clear to them. Colin was most certainly not the most manly or alpha of men, but he was not about to let them suggest that Colin would have ever written such a thing. He'd received fan letters from young teenage girls that had demonstrated more maturity and emotional depth than that first draft he'd been given. Just the thought of speaking the words had been nauseating beyond his grasp of the English language to describe.

Thankfully the writers had not only listened, but one had even suggested letting him write what he thought Colin would have said to Taron in the letter. To give them something to work with, she said, since the majority of them were all still struggling to catch up and watch his former episodes in order to write for his character. Ergo all input from him would be appreciated.

So he'd written his own version of the letter, struggling like mad to get it right, and in the end the writers had voted amongst themselves to just use his letter as written without any interference from them. Which meant that if Eggsy had cried over the letter than Harry had made him cry and that…

'Of course I cried, you idiot. It was fucking amazing what you wrote. I'd have had to be made of fucking stone not ta cry. Though I didn't in the scene. Figured he'd have read it a lot over the years.'

Staring at the message Harry didn't think, he just reacted. 'How did you know I wrote it?'

'They told me. Though I'd have wondered, anyway. It's fucking perfect for them, Harry.'

Aware he was probably more than a little red in the cheeks at the moment Harry typed out a simple thank you and sent it.

'Welcome. Though seriously…you can write that but you ain't never been in love before?'

He and Eggsy had been friends for years. He was the best friend Harry had ever had. They didn't keep secrets from each other. Of course they'd talked about each other 's love lives. He knew the people who had and continued to mean the most to Eggsy. Eggsy knew the same about him. And Harry had always stated that he'd never been in love with someone. Which was the truth…unless one was splitting grey hairs he preferred to pretend weren't there.

'I've played being in love many times.' Was the response he sent back.

'True that, Mr. Darcy.'

That role was going to haunt him for the rest of his bloody life, Harry mentally cursed.

"Mr. Hart? We're ready for you now."

Saved by the assistant to an assistant, Harry thought as he thanked her, promising to just be a moment as he sent Eggsy a quick text stating that work called and he'd talk to him later.

Putting his phone on silent, or at least he was ninety percent sure he had, Harry shoved it into his pocket and then rose from the chair to follow the assistant out of the waiting room.

Time to earn his salary.

The soundstage was set up and ready to go. There was even a bottle of water waiting for him when he walked over to take his spot in front of the microphone. Since this was just a straightforward reading and nothing else there was no need for headphones, and the stand already contained the single sheet of paper with 'his' letter.

Unscrewing the top off the water bottle Harry took a few sips while he got himself settled, setting it aside when the door opened and in came a tech person who'd been sent to give him the rundown of what to do and the signals they'd give from the booth.

Simple enough, and Harry nodded at the end of the practiced speech.

Watching the man leave the room Harry rolled his shoulders, closed his eyes, and reminded himself that he wasn't channelling the newer version Colin that he was now playing. He was slipping back into the skin of the old Colin. Slight changes, because they were seriously fucking around with who that Colin had been and the mindset he'd had last, but still Colin. Harry knew him. Knew Colin better than anyone else. Knew how he thought and felt and saw the world. How he saw himself.

And if he was honest with himself Harry had to acknowledge the fact that back then some of what the fans and writers would use as proof that they weren't just pulling the Taron and Colin storyline out their arses came from his relationship with Eggsy. Even back then there'd been a connection. A bond. And it had showed no matter how hard he'd tried to conceal or at least control it on his end.

Opening his eyes Harry looked to the booth and waited for the signal, then turned his attention to the microphone.

"Taron,

Writing this letter is one of the hardest things I've ever done. And the noblest, I suppose, which is as sad a reflection on me as it is cowardly. You deserve to hear this to your face, Taron. I know that. But I also know myself well enough to know that that wouldn't happen if I tried. I wouldn't say what needed to be said. What you deserve to know. So I'm writing you this letter and hope that eventually you'll forgive me for not only taking the coward's way out, but for what I'm about to say.

I lied to you, to everyone about why I'm leaving. I believe that is for the best. I want you to know the truth though, because you must feel like I'm abandoning you and I can't bear the thought of my name being added to the list of people who've let you down. Who made you believe that you mattered only to prove themselves unworthy of your love and loyalty. I can't be the teacher and mentor you deserve, but I can, at least, tell you how special you are. How important you are to me. And how I wish I was deserving of the kindness and friendship you've shown me.

I love you, Taron. Love you far more than I should. Everything I've told you, everything I've said about the future I see for you and what I think you'll achieve is true. I stand in awe of your bravery, compassion, and your fearlessness when it comes to being who you are. Don't ever let anyone take those qualities from you. 

Don't ever stop writing either, Taron. It's what you were meant to do. I want to spend the next decades of my life reading your books. I can't wait to see how you'll evolve as a writer and as a man, even if it's from a distance. A distance I have to put into place because I can't trust myself when it comes to you. Can't trust that I won't use the relationship we have and twist it into something else. Something that would only hurt the both of us in the end. You deserve better than that. You deserve better than me.

So to save us both I'm going to leave and, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to keep in contact with you. At least not for a while. Hopefully sometime in the future I'll be able to trust myself enough to contact you and tell you what I think of your works or about something I read about you. I hope that more than I can say. But for now…what's most important and what I wish for you to take from this letter is this. 

You're amazing. And I'll always believe in you.

Always,

Colin."

Letting out a deep, cleansing breath once he was finished, Harry ignored the first hints of a brewing headache and looked at the booth, asking how that had sounded.

)

Emotionally drained and with a nice headache to boot Harry unlocked his front door and stepped inside with a sigh of relief. Home. Thank God. He needed something for his headache and then a nap ASAP. A long nap followed by takeaway from his favorite restaurant, Harry mentally tacked on. And God willing that would hopefully put him into a food coma that would result in an early night for him so that there'd be even more sleep in his future. Morning would come soon enough.

In the back of his mind Harry knew that tomorrow was going to be even worse than today but those were thoughts for tomorrow. Or after his nap once the drugs had worked their way through his system and he could have alcohol with his meal. Potentially more alcohol than was wise.

Heading upstairs after removing his coat and shoes Harry made a beeline for the loo and the medicine cabinet. And once done there he headed for the bedroom, going immediately over to his window to pull down the shades as he did not want the afternoon sun shining in and keeping him up. Then he turned his attention to the clothes he needed to shed before he could burrow under his covers and sleep the rest of the afternoon away.

Starting from the top down Harry was naked from the waist up when he pulled his phone from his pocket. He'd forgotten to check it since he'd gone in to do his voiceover, dammit.

Clicking on the screen Harry saw that he had two missed text messages. One was from Eggsy and another from Merlin.

Accessing Eggsy's message first Harry saw that it was simply a quick message wishing him luck with his recording session. It had come in shortly after his last message, and given the time that had passed Harry debated responding. Eggsy would be busy the rest of the afternoon anyway. But so as not to be rude Harry sent off a message stating that he was home again and that the recording had gone well. He'd been pleased with the finished result.

Merlin's message was about an hour old and informed him that the reporter they'd encountered at the lunch room had had the sense to edit the interview so that it was all about Andrew, the video clips of him and Eggsy posted instead on their entertainment website. Merlin had emailed him the link that would take him to it if he wanted to see. He apparently didn't think Harry would be able to manage to view it on his phone. Arsehole.

In all honesty Harry had a feeling he didn't want to see it, but better to do it now than later when he didn't have a headache. This way he'd already have the headache and could sleep it off, the rest of his evening relatively unshadowed.

Setting aside his phone Harry retrieved his tablet and navigated to his personal email account without any problem as this at least he'd mastered until the tech Gods decided to fuck with the site again. And from there he accessed the link and arrived at the correct page entitled 'An Adorable Hartwin Moment'.

God, they really did have a well known couple name.

Starting the video Harry noted that the cameraman had been filming them longer than he'd realized. The video actually started when he was talking his seat at the table and arguing with Eggsy's about letting him feed him. Their conversation hadn't been recorded, thankfully, but the reporter and Andrew's voices had been edited out so that the video was basically pieced together clips of him and Eggsy talking to each other while he fed Eggsy's lunch and their reaction to the comments and good natured ribbing from other members of the cast and crew.

If they were as popular as Eggsy insinuated they were Harry imagined a lot of Hartwin fans were going to love this video.

They loved each other. It was obvious to anyone with eyes. It was there for all to see in the way they looked at each other. Their body language and obvious closeness. Not the sort of love these Hartwin people insisted he and Eggsy felt for each other, of course, that wasn't…but they did love each other. And looking at the video that way…it was actually quite lovely.

Watching the video a second time once it had run its course Harry grabbed the pen and paper he kept on his nightstand afterwards and made note of the title and the news outlet that had produced it. It was bound to find its way onto YouTube before the week was over…and then he could save it in his favorites.

Once that was done and he'd set both the writings materials and his tablet aside Harry turned his attention to finishing stripping off his clothes and then pulled back his covers and slid under the cool sheets with a low sigh of contentment. Bed. Best bloody invention ever.

So of course his phone signaled that he had a message then, because of course he'd forgotten to set it on silent. And it would bug him if he didn't check to make sure it wasn't important. Stupid work ethic and good manners.

Grumbling out curses as he retrieved his phone Harry sighed when he saw that he had a message from Eggsy. Because of course he did.

'Hey. Got your message. So I'm guessing that you're nappin by now and I figured ta text ya and let ya know that after I finish up here I thought I'd stop at your fav place and get us some dinner? Steaks and baked potatoes with all the fixings, of course. And then I was thinkin we could watch the first Mummy movie? Should be done about six thirty, so message me if ya don't want me comin round before then, kay? Sweet dreams, btw. Which means 'by the way' in case ya forgot again heh.'

"Cheeky little brat."

And God how predictable was he that Eggsy had known he'd head straight for a nap and then want his favorite meal afterwards? And crashing in front of the telly with something mindless and entertaining sounded like a bloody brilliant idea.

That being the case Harry sat up more comfortably in bed and typed out a message to him.

'Sounds like a plan to me, Brat. I have dessert covered as well.'

Once it was sent Harry snuggled back under his blankets, though he kept the phone in his hand in case Eggsy still had his phone on him and texted back.

Which he did, the text agreeing that they had a date and why wasn't he sleeping?

'I'm sleep texting.'

'Harry, ya can hardly text when you's is awake.'

Oh that arse. 'On the contrary, my messages always make sense. Which is more than you can say.'

'OMG. WTH, H? U hatin on my spellin again?'

'No dessert for you.'

Eggsy's next text was a selfie of him making a sad puppy face.

He had to laugh, which of course had been Eggsy's intention. And he was still smiling when he sent a text telling Eggsy that he was ridiculous and that he was going to nap now.

'I get dessert?'

'You get dessert. Now sod off.'

Eggsy sent him back a wish of sweet dreams and a smilie face.


	10. Comfortable Together

Note: So, so sorry to leave this where I did but it was either leave it before the scene happened or stop partway through and that seemed even crueler to me. Will try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Again, serious sorry.

Comfortable Together

Harry had never been a cat person, he had always preferred dogs, but he had some idea what it must be like to have one thanks to his years of knowing Eggsy. Though his friend had many qualities more often found in the canines commonly found as pets, Eggsy more closely resembled a cat as he lay sprawled out on Harry's couch with his head resting on a pillow that he'd placed on Harry's thigh earlier. A habit Harry claimed to tolerate only because Eggsy had made it clear that it was either his head or his smelly feet in Harry's lap, so obviously the head was the preferable choice. That he loved the closeness and…the way it soothed him on some basic level was his own little secret.

Eggsy meanwhile was currently in a happy food coma and making sighing, rather purring like sounds as a result. Though that was also possibly because of the petting Harry was doing, Eggsy's hair soft between his fingers as Harry mushed and then finger combed the light brown strands back into place. He was looking forward to Eggsy having to grow it out for the Kingsman sequel, Harry mused quietly to himself, considering the additional length that would give him to play with. Not too long of course. If Eggsy ever tried to grow one of those horrid man buns he'd chop it off while the boy was sleeping.

"Whatcha thinkin bout?"

"How you're never allowed to have hair long enough for a ponytail, much less a bun."

Amusement coated Eggsy's response. "I'm not, huh? Good ta know."

"You'd look horrid."

"No shit, Sherlock."

Rolling his eyes Harry turned his attention back to watching the telly as the little boy on it started tormenting his captor by drumming his fingers in time with the henchman's, smiling a little as he thought to himself that young Alex O'Connell had a lot in common with a younger Eggsy personality wise. Thank the Lord the former didn't exist and that if he had, he hadn't been around to become friends with child Eggsy. London would never have recovered. The nine plagues of Egypt would have looked like nothing in comparison. Was it nine?

Harry posed the question to Eggsy, who pulled out his phone and asked it to tell him.

There were ten.

"Wanna know what they are?"

"Given that we just ate, probably not."

Making a sound of agreement Eggsy put his phone back into his pocket before wrapping his arms around his stomach protectively. "Ugh. Why did you let me eat so much? Mates stop mates from making bad decisions. Or fuck up right along with them. I wouldn't be this full if you'd just finished your dinner like a good boy."

"You didn't have to finish it for me."

"Would have been criminal ta let that pie go ta waste. Ya barely touched it."

"Those were abnormally large pieces, and I'm supposed to be getting into fighting form as you'll recall. I don't have a twenty year old's metabolism as you'll recall."

"Hey, I know plenty of blokes my age who would kill ta look as good as you do. You're right fit."

"You're biased. But thank you."

Eggsy smiled up at him before turning his attention back to the telly to watch more of the movie.

Joining him in that, it really was a good movie no matter how many times they watched it, Harry estimated that they'd been watching for another ten minutes or so before Eggsy commented that Jaci, one of the Kingsman makeup artists, had laughed when he'd told her what he and Harry planned to watch tonight. Apparently the first two Mummy movies were chick flicks in her opinion.

"She is of course entitled to her opinion, and Evie and Rick are one of the best movie couples ever in my opinion, but that doesn't make it a chick flick."

"She said it was perfect for our 'date night'."

Harry rolled his eyes at that.

Really, what was with people and assuming that he and Eggsy were dating just because they spent time outside of work together? I mean yes they often attended events together, and were photographed in restaurants or just spending time in the park with Daisy all the time, but that didn't mean they were dating. If they were dating they were both man enough to admit it. And he sure as hell wouldn't tolerate Eggsy's fooling around with Swedish royals or whoever Eggsy was dating at the moment. Not that Eggsy was the sort to cheat of course, but the fact remained that neither of them would cheat on their significant other if they had one. He just hadn't had the time or inclination to deal with the dating scene recently and Eggsy…huh. When was the last time Eggsy had mentioned having a date?

Thinking back Harry couldn't recall Eggsy mentioning having a date since…well since around the time Eggsy had talked him into returning to Kingsman. And what the media had to say about Eggsy's love life was never to be trusted, Harry avoided reading or watching such things unless Merlin advised him to do otherwise. The media left him alone for the most part, and Eggsy too for that matter, but they were still known names on both sides of the pond so the occasional mention was expected. But seriously…Harry didn't recall being introduced to someone Eggsy was seeing in well over a year now that he was thinking about it. And Princess Tilde, well Eggsy had made it clear they were casual friends with the occasional benefits, nothing more.

But why on earth would Eggsy be single? The man was bisexual. He had not just one, but two dating pools to fish in. He was good looking, famous, and a genuinely wonderful person besides. Or was it a case that Eggsy hadn't told him he was seeing someone in particular? But that couldn't be it because actually he and Eggsy had been spending more time together this past year than they had previously. Well they'd always spent a lot of time together, but still…Eggsy had begun dropping in on him more lately, hadn't he?

And the more he thought about it the more none of it made sense to Harry in the slightest. And that being the case…

"Eggsy…shouldn't you be on a date with someone rather than here with me?"

Twisting around so that he was looking straight up instead of sideways again, Eggsy raised an eyebrow as he asked if Harry had had plans he'd interrupted.

"No. It's just occurred to me that I've rather been monopolizing your time lately."

That got him an eye roll and Eggsy settling back to watch the screen as he stated that he was right where he wanted to be, thank you very much.

Pleased by that, he was only human after all, Harry still couldn't help but focus on the fact that Eggsy hadn't answered his question really. "I just mean that it seems like it's been quite a while since you mentioned having a date with anyone."

Silence. Short but still…noteworthy.

"Concentrating on work this year. And no time for proper dating besides. And sides, rather spend what free time I have with family and mates right now."

Well that made sense. Eggsy was still young after all. No reason for him to settle down before he was ready. Plenty of years for that yet. And it was important for Eggsy to remain grounded despite his rising career, so keeping close ties with his family and friends did make logical sense. He was actually rather proud of Eggsy for having come to that conclusion all on his own.

A pat on the head was definitely called for.

"I'd rather the strokin, thanks."

Chuckling, Eggsy was such a hedonist at times, Harry did as asked and returned to the stroking while settling in once more to pay attention to the movie.

)

After the movie was over, and the good guys had triumphed once more, Eggsy helped clean up and then sleepily stated that he should head out or he was going to end up passing out on Harry's couch. Something he'd done before plenty of times. And while Harry could have offered his guest room, and had done so before many times in the past, he figured that tonight at least it was for the best that Eggsy go home. Best for him, anyway. He felt guilty enough to offer to pay for a cab.

"Nah. No need. Really I should just walk it. Good exercise."

"But you're not going to." Harry made sure Eggsy knew he was serious about this.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Good."

Shrugging on his jacket Eggsy shoved his hands into his pockets, his brows drawing together for a moment before a smirk that Harry felt did not bode well for him crossed Eggsy's face.

"What?"

"I just remembered that I got somethin for ya. From Mark."

"Do I want to know what that something is?"

"Mints for tomorrow." Was Eggsy's cheeky reply as he pulled out the plastic container in question, holding it out for Harry to take.

Christ. Tomorrow. Their first kiss scene. And of course Mark and likely everyone else thought it was so fucking hilarious. He was dreading their commentary nearly half as much as he dreaded the kissing itself. Because of course there would be multiple takes. He wasn't lucky enough for it to be otherwise. Dammit.

Eggsy snickered up at him as he rocked back on his heels. "Man, your face right now. Quit worryin about it. I'll be the one snogging ya, not the other way round, remember? All ya gotta do is stand there and enjoy it."

Technically the script just stated that they kissed, not who initiated it, but if they were to poll the cast and crew Harry knew they'd all agree that Taron was far more likely to initiate and lead than Colin was. His alter ego, so to speak, was very much the submissive when it came to such things. Though technically Colin just had terrible taste in men, period, and if Colin were to have a real one in his bed maybe he'd be a bit more passionate and aggressive about keeping the man in question there. Not that Harry had any intention of expressing that sentiment outloud. Ever.

"Do I need ta bring ya a paper bag tomorrow, Bruv?"

Harry boxed the boy's ears for the 'bruv' comment, he hated being called that, and then over Eggsy's yelping told him that no, he would be perfectly fine, thank you. He even took the mints from the boy's hand for emphasis, absently shoving them into his pocket because out of sight, out of mind.

Rubbing his ear in a very exaggerated manner when Harry turned him loose Eggsy pouted up at him. "That was just uncalled for. Just for that I should slip ya some tongue ta choke on tomorrow."

The sound Harry made was embarrassing even before Eggsy started laughing at him.

Arms wrapping around his waist as he bent over and shook with laughter, Eggsy tried to say something about both the sound and Harry's expressions, but it kept getting lost in the choked off on another peal of merriment.

Tring to salvage some dignity Harry pulled his phone from his pocket to call that taxi for Eggsy. The sooner the boy was home and away from him the better.

Assured that someone would be there shortly by the pleasant operator on the other line Harry thanked her and then turned his attention back to the snickering brat in front of him.

"If you're quite done?"

"Nah, I'll be laughin over that till I'm six feet under. Your face."

Just the thought of it was apparently enough to send Eggsy back into helpless laughter.

"Eggsy…get ahold of yourself or I'm either going to toss you out my door or put you over my knee."

Cutting off in mid merriment Eggsy's whole face about split with the evilness of his grin.

"Do I get to pick which?"

Oh fuck a duck.

Marching over to his front door while praying with all the fervor of a very lapsed Anglican that he wasn't blushing, Harry opened the door and without a word gestured for Eggsy to exit before he was pushed any further.

And proving that he was more than just a pretty face Eggsy didn't argue, though there was a gleam in the boy's eyes that made it clear how tempted he was to push just a little bit more. A temptation Eggsy was wise to ignore, Harry hoped his gaze accurately conveyed.

Walking up to him Eggsy of course had to completely undermined him by insuring that Harry couldn't possibly stay mad with him by giving him a quick but loving hug before pulling back to give him a wink. A wink that was followed by a cheeky good night before Eggsy slipped away and jumping off the front stoop started walking up the street towards the main road to wait for the taxi.

Dammit.

Calling out a return good night because he had to Harry watched as Eggsy raised a hand in acknowledgement before continuing to walk away without a backward glance. Which given his likely expression at the moment was only for the best, really.

Swiping a hand through his hair Harry stepped back inside and firmly closed and locked the door behind him. It wasn't like Eggsy couldn't get back inside if he needed to for some reason.

Please God let him not need to.

Walking back over to the couch they'd oh so recently vacated Harry said to hell with propriety and flopped down onto it, bringing his hands up to cover his face for emphasis as he now had no choice but to think about tomorrow. About Eggsy snogging him. Kissing him. Maybe even French kissing him because he thought it would be funny after tonight. And he'd have to play along. Have to live in that moment and then turn it off when the director said cut. Pretend to be unaffected and move on like it was nothing. Like it meant nothing. That he didn't…

"Whoever said pride cometh before a fall should have said a fall into the bloody Grand Canyon."

)

Decades spent honing his craft as an actor served him well the next day when Harry spent the morning leading up to the kissing scene pretending to be his usual, unruffable self. Mature, poised, and more than capable of handling anything anyone, including one Eggsy Unwin, might wish to throw at him. He betrayed not for a moment the sleepless night he'd spent dreading this, imagining everything that could go wrong or how he might betray himself.

And Harry was sure he'd fooled everyone with the possible exception of Eggsy. There was just something about the boy, something off in a way that Harry couldn't even begin to put his finger on no matter how hard he tried. But he felt, sensed, that in some way Eggsy might just be playing a role himself today. But why?

He didn't know how to ask, and certainly didn't want to know if Eggsy was seeing through his own façade, so Harry kept his mouth shut and braced himself when the time came for the scene in question.

In this scene Colin showed up at the small cottage Taron was renting for the summer at two in the morning, demanding to know why his former student was doing so much for him. Why he'd saved him from Jack, gone to the mortuary with him to see his mother, and spent so much time with him since he'd arrived. And when Taron just stared at him Colin broke and in anguish asked the real question he'd come to get answered, which was why Taron had said nothing about the letter he'd given him. Hadn't said one word about what he'd written and revealed.

"Ready?" A shirtless Eggsy asked him when the director was done his spiel and had turned his attention to the crew.

"Want to check my breath?" Harry quipped back, trying to sound just as casual about it.

And he was definitely not looking at Eggsy's chest or noticing that the track pants the boy was wearing rode just a little too low on Eggsy's hips for his comfort level. Though thank God they'd gone with that and not boxer briefs or a thrown on robe with nothing underneath.

"Nah, I trust ya. Wanna check mine?"

"I trust you."

A shared smile and then they both fell silent. Unusual for them.

When the time came to start shooting the first part went well. Both he and Eggsy knew their characters inside and out even with these new changes to their backstories and personalities, and it showed in the first few takes as they taped Eggsy's reaction to finding him at his door so late at night. And the following scenes where he marched inside the cottage after pushing Eggsy aside before beginning his rant went just as well, though the director seemed to want Harry to play Colin as more emotional than Harry felt the man would be. Yes Colin was weaker in personality than Harry, but he was still an Englishman. He wasn't the type to let his feelings all hang out even when overwrought. This led to a minor argument, which thankfully Eggsy backed him up on, and finally they came to an agreement where they'd do two takes, one more emotional than the other, and then later they'd see which played better.

Both versions of that part of the scene shot, it was time for the bigger argument. The telling argument. The one that changed everything between the two characters and insured that neither could pretend anymore where the other was concerned.


	11. Just For Show

Just For Show

“-why are you just standing there?! Why aren’t you answering me? You’ve always got something to say, haven’t you, Taron? Some gibe remark or sly comment to demonstrate just how smart and charming you can be. You always have some reason or excuse for driving the rest of us barmy. No one can charm his way out of trouble like Taron Egerton, Miss. Tibbs used to say. Well charm me, damn you!” Colin slapped a hand between their chests, his fingers instinctively spreading out over the bare skin there before he gave the younger man a slight shove, recognizing the danger Taron presented on so many levels. Especially to his concentration and the fury that was enabling him to stand his ground.

“Tell me your reason you have for doing all this!” Colin pressed when Taron just continued to stare at him in shock. “For acting this way when you know, when you sure as hell have to know what it does to me that you’d…you’ve said nothing! We’ve spent hours together and you’ve said not one bloody word about how I left or the fucking letter! Why?”

The last word came out as a whisper, all the desperation and emotion that had fueled the rest of his impassioned, rather loud speech leaving Colin in one fallow swoop. It was all he could do not to sag like a balloon whose air had left it. 

“I was waiting for you to bring it up.” The words, spoken so softly and carefully, didn’t sound like Taron at all. The vulnerability there in the boy’s face and body language. It made Colin’s hands literally itch to hug him. Hold him and assure him that everything would be all right even though they both had to know that that would be a whopper of a lie.

He looked away before he did or said something stupid.

“Do you need to sit down?”

“No, I don’t need to sit down.” He did, actually, but Colin wasn’t about to admit it. Only now he didn’t know what the hell to say because now that he’d said the rest…he didn’t actually want to know how Taron thought and felt about the letter or him. Or to be more precise he was just plain afraid to know.

Taron, meanwhile, made as if to shove his hands into his pockets, only the trackies he was wearing didn’t have any. The younger man was left to swipe a hand through his already mussed hair while looking over Colin’s shoulder rather than at him. And then Taron was looking at him again.

“So we’re doing this now, then?”

“Doing what now?” 

Shaking his head Taron’s lips curved ruefully. “I didn’t say nothin cause I didn’t want ta scare you off. Push ya before yous was ready to have this out and say ta my face what ya said in that letter.”

“Taron…”

“I ain’t gonna say you was wrong ta do it like ya did. Not that I didn’t fucking curse ya black and blue a hundred times or more for the first little while. Cause I bloody well did and won’t apologize for it. But I do get why ya had to go before. Why it was the right thing ta do.”

“I never wanted to hurt you.” 

“I know. Ya left ta protect both of us.”

Swallowing hard when Taron took a step forward, closing the gap between them, Colin flinched when the wall behind him stopped him from moving away.

“Like a fucking rabbit.” The words were mumbled, but audible.

“A rabbit?”

“You. I feel like a fox with a cornered rabbit. Or a damn cat with a mouse in its paws.” A sound of exasperation, the emotion written all over Taron’s face before it settled into a sterner, more foreboding expression. “I ain’t gonna hurt ya so stop lookin at me like that. I ain’t Jack for fuck sakes. Why do ya think I haven’t hunted ya down before now? Made ya face me and own the fuck up to what ya said in that goddamn letter? It ain’t like I haven’t had the money to hire someone, ya know. But I wasn’t gonna force ya ta own up ta lovin me even if I’ve wanted ta throttle ya every fucking time ya sent me a letter bout one of my books without leaving a sodding return address so I could write ta ya at the very fucking least!”

“Taron.”

“Oh don’t ya Taron me like that. Ya think it’s been so long that I don’t recognize your teach voice? Fuck that and you if you think you can come here like this and then run off. Cause FY Fucking I I ain’t lettin ya off the hook this time. Ya said ya loved me, COLIN. Ya said ya loved me.” When he repeated himself Taron’s voice noticeably softened, though his expression was fierce as he crowded in on Colin to offer him no escape as their chests met. “I’ll woe ya if that’s what ya need from me. I won’t demand nothin from ya that you aint willin ta give me. But don’t you pretend ya don’t know what’s between us. What’s ALWAYS been between us. Don’t ya even fucking dare.”

Unable to breathe or look away from the eyes that held him there as much as Taron’s body, Colin found enough breath to gasp when the other man’s hand came up to cup his cheek, Taron’s spreading fingers each a brand on his skin. 

Raising his own hand without thought Colin found himself copying Taron, something in his chest breaking as he watched the other man’s eyelashes come down to hide Taron’s eyes as he nuzzled into his hand.

And in that moment Colin didn’t know if he was asking for mercy or more when he said, “Please.”

His other hand coming up Taron drew Colin’s head down and Colin let him as he breathed Taron’s name against the boy’s lips before they met his own.  
It was almost chaste, that kiss. So gentle and soft. Hesitant and careful. 

Like his lips were made of the frailest of glass and might shatter if too much pressure was put on them.

Then Taron groaned low in his throat and the next kiss…oh the next kiss was something else entirely as Colin found himself experiencing all the hunger and want Taron had been reining in. Igniting his own.

The hand he’d placed on Taron’s cheek naturally slid around to cup the back of his head, insuring that Taron didn’t stop what he was doing while Colin wrapped his free arm around Taron’s waist. And when the other man’s tongue swiped across his lips in question Colin opened with a groan, wanting nothing more than for the man to fuck his mouth and-

Crash

Breaking apart automatically as their heads turned in the direction of the sound, Colin had to blink a few times to focus enough to see what it was they’d heard smash onto the floor.

“Fuck.”

It was automatic to look back at Taron, who was staring at him with searching eyes, looking for something while his own eyes were full of-

“Oomph.” What air he’d gotten back into his lungs in those brief seconds apart left him in a rush as Colin suddenly found himself being hugged tightly as Taron buried his face against his collar. It was instinct to wrap his arm around him protectively in turn while the other cupped the back of the boy’s head. His grip tensing when he heard his name being mumbled.

“Harry.”

Harry

Oh

“CUT!”

)  
Blinking back into understanding, and shedding the man that was Colin in the process, Harry dropped his hands away automatically as he turned to look in the direction of their now hooting and hollering audience while Eggsy…he remained pressed up against Harry’s chest for a moment and then started cursing over the damn vase they’d knocked off the table during the kiss. One of them must have bumped the table, Harry realized dimly as he watched Eggsy move away and then hunker down to start collecting up the pieces of porcelain.

“Oh for-don’t cut yourself. Your hand only just healed.”

Eggsy didn’t so much as look up. “Yes, Mummy.”

Making a sound of exasperation, and desperately grateful that the vase had fallen and given both of them an excuse not to deal with the people watching them just yet, Harry walked around to kneel near Eggsy to help him pick up the pieces. While making very sure to keep a safe distance between them to ensure that they wouldn’t touch. It was best if they didn’t touch just yet.

“Oi, I have it.” Eggsy informed him, still not looking at him.

“We broke it together, we’ll pick it up together.” That was his excuse, and by God he was sticking to it. Anything to take his mind off the fact that he had Eggsy’s taste in his mouth and the memory of-not thinking about it. Lalalalalala.

“Ah, you two do realize that we have people for that. And something better and safer to use than your very valuable hands.”

Damn director.

“We broke it so it’s only right that we clean it up.” He hated how priggish he sounded, but Harry had no intention of showing his face or the erection that hadn’t quite gone down yet until he absolutely had no other alternative course of action.

“And we’re almost got it all anyway, Bruv. The ugly thing stayed mostly together. For the best we broke it really. A service.”

“Like two peas in a pod.” The director muttered loudly before he turned around and started talking to the waiting crew, stating that once the two mules were done cleaning up the lamp they’d be reshooting some of the beginning. He thought they could do better there. 

Shit.

“He’s right. I acted for shit during the rabbit and cat part.”

“You most certainly did not. You were excellent. It was probably me. And the fact that he seems to want me to play Colin like he’s a bloody drama queen.” Harry muttered that last part, just in case the director had abnormally good hearing.

“I think he has problems realizing that there don’t have ta be a girl in a slash relationship.” 

“No doubt.” 

Both of them now bent over a little as they searched for stray pieces, Harry joined Eggsy in cursing as they bumped heads while reaching for the same spotted piece at the same time. And then they were looking at each other and laughing, and the knots in Harry’s stomach started to loosen up.

“Good thing our heads are equally hard.” Eggsy joked with a wink, mockingly rubbing the side of his head for emphasis.

A clearing of a throat had them both looking in the direction of a stagehand who was holding out a small rubbish bin in their direction. 

“Ah, thank you.” Taking it from him Harry set it down on the floor to start transferring their pile of broken pieces into it while Eggsy retrieved the final shard and tossed it in.

“I just wanted to say I thought you both were brilliant just now. I don’t know what he thinks you could possibly do better but…I thought it was great.”

As was polite Harry looked back up and in the stagehand’s direction as he thanked him for the compliment, the look in the man’s eyes making it clear as to why he was expressing the sentiment. And it had nothing to do with their skills as an actor and everything to do with his interest in both of them. And really, eye fucking them both at the same time? Did the man possess not a shred of common sense? Unless of course he was interested in a threesome…which was a thought Harry rather wished his mind hadn’t stopped to entertain.

“Yeah, thanks.” His tone cool Eggsy held the bin back out to the stagehand, who took it with a suggestive smile aimed in Eggsy’s direction.

Ignoring it Eggsy straightened up and then offered his hand to Harry with a grin. 

Though he didn’t need the help, his knees weren’t quite that bad yet thank you very much, Harry accepted the hand up and didn’t comment when Eggsy laced their fingers together. The gesture was no doubt intended to send a clear message to the stagehand, and he was fine with that. 

“We should go see what the director wants to change.” 

“Lets.” Another wink and then Eggsy steered them over in that direction, the stagehand wisely getting out of their way.

)

Standing in front of the mirror hours later Harry studied his face one last time for signs that he’d missed any of the makeup or neglected to quite rub in some of the cream he was under strict orders to apply to his face daily to starve off wrinkles and skin damage. That he’s rather not study his face for signs of aging went without stating, but Harry was vain enough to suck it up in order to ensure that he was looking his best before he headed out for the night. Though it was late enough that most of the cast and crew had left even before they’d stated filming the last scene of the day. It had been a small scene, just him and Andrew, so only a small crew had been required to stay behind. It had gone well too, Andrew surprisingly subdued and cooperative. He hadn’t expected that. He’d expected the man to heckle him about his and Eggsy’s kissing scene. Everyone else had.

Not that he was complaining. His mental hit list should he ever turn into a homicidal maniac was looking rather long at the moment thanks to the comments he’d received from his so called friends this afternoon and evening.

Rolling his shoulders as he turned off the lights and then opened his dressing room door, Harry couldn’t wait to get home where he could wallow for the rest of the night and the next day, which he had off. Today had gone better than he’d thought it would, thank God, but he was still bloody glad that it was over and just wanted to be alone. Thankfully Eggsy had left as soon as their scenes together had finished for the day to babysit Daisy while their mother attended the birthday party of a friend. So he didn’t have to worry about him dropping by unexpectedly tonight, and would be able to have a drink and decompress in peace. 

Sensing that he wasn’t alone in the hallway Harry turned his head in surprise to see Andrew watching him from a nearby doorway. The man’s dressing room if he wasn’t mistaken. As per usual the man was dressed to the nines, the clothes and look he was trying to present just a little too young for Andrew to actually pull off in Harry’s opinion. As for his own appearance Harry knew he was as put together as always, his face revealing nothing, so why was Andrew still staring at him now that he knew Harry was aware of him? 

“Something I can do for you, Andrew?” 

Andrew seemed to consider ignoring him, no surprise, but after a moment’s pause he stepped out and pulled the door closed behind him before walking over to stand in front of him.

They’d known each other longer than either was comfortable with, and Harry wanted to wince just counting the years. And in all that time they’d never been friendly or really spoken with each other if it could be avoided. They just plain didn’t like each other. But they did know each other, for better or for worst, and Harry was surprised to find himself struggling to interpret the look Andrew gave him when the other man came to a stop in front of him.

“You do know what’s he’s doing, don’t you?”

“Sorry?”

“Your boy. Eggsy. This whole storyline he concocted for you both. The more I watch the two of you the more clueless I’m starting to think you are. So giving you the benefit of the doubt, much as it pains me, you do know what he’s trying to do, don’t you?”

“I am aware that Eggsy enjoys pushing me out of my comfort zone. Often for his own amusement.” But that wasn’t what Andrew meant or thought he knew. Harry could see that clearly in the other man’s expression.

“And people say you’re so smart.” Shaking his head Andrew looked away for a moment, his jaw noticeably clenching as he seemed to fight some internal struggle with himself. And then he was looking back to meet Harry’s gaze squarely, a surprising intensity to his stare. “Start paying attention, Hart. If you don’t you’re going to regret it. I can promise you that.”

“I think I know Eggsy a great deal better than you do.” Harry began, Andrew cutting him off.

“I won’t argue that you’re closer to the brat than I am. And I don’t like him any more than I like you.” A deep breath. “But I’ve been in his shoes. And I didn’t have his courage. I’ve paid for it ever since. If he means half as much to you as I think he does…do right by him. Pay attention.”

Shocked speechless Harry barely felt it when Andrew shouldered past him, the other man moving faster than Harry had seen him go in years. Possibly decades.

When he did find his voice, his ‘What the hell?!” echoed in the otherwise silent hallway.


	13. Ignoring The Truth

Note: I feel I might need to apologize for Harry's late night mental rantings. I didn't really mean to write that scene to be so long-it just happened and I got carried away. Partially because I'm not remotely a morning person either and sleep is the greatest thing ever. But regardless, a lot more will happen in the next chapter, I promise lol.

Ignoring The Truth

If asked Harry honestly couldn't have said how long he stood in that bloody hallway after Andrew had said his piece and then fled the scene like the rat he was. There were still a few people milling around once he finally started moving again so at least it couldn't have been the hours it had felt like once he'd snapped himself out of the shock that had paralyzed him. Of course those same people seemed surprised to see him, Harry couldn't help but notice, but that could be because of the state he was in rather than the lateness of the hour. God he hoped that his thoughts and feelings hadn't been written all over his face. That he wouldn't see his name and picture splashed all over social media tomorrow, the headlines screaming who knows what drivel to explain his shocked, confused face.

Once he was outside and on the street it was better. The cool air hinting at rain did wonders for him. Helped center him so that Harry felt his chances of regaining his equilibrium were good.

Taking a moment to breathe, just breathe, Harry concentrated on that and only that for a couple minutes before allowing his mind to turn to the question of what he was going to do now. Because what he wanted to do was hunt Andrew down, Harry acknowledged as his hands fisted at his sides. He wanted to take that obnoxious, talentless twit by the throat and demand to know what he'd meant before. Beat the truth out of him if necessary. It wouldn't take much after all. Andrew would probably break under just the threat of violence. But did he really want to now what Andrew had meant? And why had he frozen up like that? What about what Andrew had been saying had so completely paralyzed him that his brain had shut down for what had seemed like ages. Bookman had seemed to think that Harry should know exactly what he was talking about and Andrew was most definitely not smarter than he was. But he was also-was there something about Eggsy that he was missing? On some instinctual level did he…no. No he didn't know what Andrew could have been referring to. Right?

And what had Andrew meant when he said he knew what it was to be in Eggsy's shoes? What was that all about? That seemed to be what had motivated Andrew to confront him in the first place. But Andrew had never been in Eggsy's shoes. His feet were too big for one thing, and Andrew hated Eggsy's winged trainers with a passion. He'd even made fun of them on social media.

And that wasn't what Andrew had meant and he knew that, Harry reminded himself sternly. He'd meant it metaphorically, obviously, and…and...

And Andrew had never been in Eggsy's shoes in that way either, Harry thought in annoyed confusion. The two couldn't be more different. Even when Andrew had been younger he'd been nothing like Eggsy. Bookman only wished he'd been as good looking, popular, and bankable as Eggsy was. Hell, the only thing the two had in common as far as Harry knew was that they'd both starred in 'Kingsman'. But so did a lot of people, dammit, and that had never encouraged Andrew to speak up for one of them in a positive way. And it had seemed that Andrew had been speaking up on Eggsy behalf as a-well not champion, but in a supporting way. Which was so not Andrew.

Perhaps he'd recently been diagnosis with something terminal and was doing an Ebenezer Scrooge before he kicked the bucket?

Not likely. And not helpful either.

Swiping a hand through his hair Harry turned his thoughts to the role Eggsy was playing. Maybe it wasn't Eggsy who had Andrew's sympathy, which made more sense, but the situation TARON found himself in. That could be possible. The man had had a dismal love life as far as Harry knew. Two ex wives, no children, and the man's more casual relationships tended to end as bitterly as the marriages. Harry had never heard of the man being interested in other men, and he prided himself on having excellent gaydar, but there was the whole being in love with someone older or otherwise forbidden. That he could believe.

Andrew had pursued any number of women who had never given him the time of day.

Though come to think of it Andrew's most lauded role to date had seen him playing the role of a younger man hopelessly in love with an older woman. Helen Mirren had played the other woman; the neighbor of the university student Andrew had played at the time. It had been, God, in the eighties, Harry thought, sometime after she and Liam had parted ways. He couldn't even remember the name of the bloody movie, just that the only good thing about it had been the two of them. It was one of the reasons, actually, that meeting and acting with Andrew had proved such a disappointment. One of those actors who peaked early and then just went downhill from there. Though Andrew's previous work hadn't been that stellar either.

And again, not the point, Harry reminded himself. Or at least he couldn't see how it could apply.

Actually…now that he thoughts about it…why the fucking hell was he seriously thinking about something Andrew said? What the hell was wrong with him?

"I'm an idiot."

Breathing out one last breath of exasperation Harry shoved his hands into his pockets and mentally called himself a lot of uncomplimentary words on the way to the nearest main road to hail a taxi. Once there he pulled out his phone, discovering in the process that he'd missed three phone calls from Merlin.

Oops. He'd forgotten to take it off silent again. Shit.

Doing that now Harry double checked that he'd done it right and then going to his contacts accessed Merlin's number to find out what the no doubt pissed at him Scot wanted.

"Forgot to turn your phone on again, didn't you?"

Of course those were the first words out of Merlin's mouth. And ignoring the comment Harry asked why Merlin had been calling him. He assumed it was important.

"How did it go today?"

Merlin didn't just call to ask how a day of filming had gone. Not without a damn good reason. And there hadn't been anything special about today, nothing technically difficult or reporters on set who could have hypothetically seen or heard something that Merlin might have to worry about. The only thing the made today's filming stand out from the rest of the week was the kissing with Eggsy. Which Harry knew in his gut was why Merlin was calling.

"It went fine. If you want details you're better off calling Eggsy. He's babysitting Daisy so you can talk to her too if she's still awake." Merlin adored Daisy and vice versa. The two were more than a little adorable together.

The way Merlin said his name…Harry wasn't sure he'd ever heard Merlin say it that way before. He didn't know what to make of it.

"Merlin?"

"Look…fuck it. Are you all right?"

"What the-for fuck sakes, Merlin. What is-I'm fine. Just fine. Between you and Andrew…" Harry breathed out a calming breath. "It was just acting. So for the last bloody time tonight   
I'll say again that reading more into my relationship with Eggsy than obvious friendship is lunacy."

A long quiet. Long enough Harry actually looked at the phone to make sure he hadn't accidentally ended it. He'd done that more than once in the past too. As both Merlin and Eggsy loved to remind him. But according to the screen they were still connected, and when he asked Merlin if he was still there his agent confirmed that yes, he was. In a very put upon tone of voice that rubbed Harry's already frayed nerves the wrong way. And really tempted him to hang up.

"I know that you think that-wait. What about Andrew? Andrew Bookman?"

Rolling his eyes Harry asked what other Andrew he could mean before he briefly summarized what Andrew had said to him in the dressing room hallway.

"He said that? To you? Now why the hell would he be trying to help-but then he said he didn't like either one of you. You mentioned that. What's his angle? Bloody hell. That's all we need. Him and O'Connell interfering in all of this. Like this isn't borderline FUBAR already." The last part was a tacked on grumble.

"What do you mean, trying to help?"

Another noticeable pause.

"You know what I mean. You can play dumb all you want, even to yourself because Christ knows you're brilliant at that, but we both know you're not stupid." A huff of breath. "Nevermind. Just forget I said anything. I'm staying out of this. Just ignore Bookman and don't call Eggsy after this call to bitch about either conversation. Leave the boy alone for the night."

"I'll remind you that you called me, Merlin. Not the other way around. And I would very much appreciate you staying out of this so good night."

"Night, Harry."

Merlin ended the call.

Staring down at the screen, which featured a picture of Merlin that Eggsy had taken for him, Harry wanted nothing more than to throw it into oncoming traffic.

But that would mean going cellphone shopping again, on top of Eggsy having to download all his apps and such for him again, and that would just add insult to injury. Especially since Eggsy took such puckish glee from teasing him about it.

So Harry shoved the damn thing into his pocket again and started to walk, traversing about three blocks before he remembered that he'd meant to call himself a taxi.

Shit.

)

He didn't sleep. Couldn't sleep. Nothing he did or tried allowed Harry to slip into anything resembling slumber that night. He even went online at four in the fucking morning to look up what insomniacs did at such times and none of their suggestions worked for him. Mostly because a lot of the suggestions would have required him to try and find an open shop to get the specified teas or such, but regardless…those tricks he tried failed him. Each and every one. And they shouldn't have since there were very few things in the world Harry excelled at more than sleeping. It was his thing. He LOVED to sleep. If there was an Olympic event for sleeping he'd have gold medaled in it every two years. God knows his country needed all the help it could get when it came to medalling in the Winter Games. And he didn't even like winter sports that much. It would have to be a winter sport because that was when hibernation happened. And why couldn't he hibernate? I mean yes there were those in the world who couldn't because they couldn't afford to or were required to be around in order to keep the world running and such, but he could afford to not work for four months AND he was an actor. Who would miss him during that brief time?

Well…aside from Eggsy and certain friends and family. But surely they would understand his reasoning and see that his mail was dealt with and such while he was sleeping. Though then again…how would the issues of food, bodily functions, and most especially personal grooming be taken care of? He knew what he looked like with a horrid beard and overly long hair thanks to his fake coma in 'Secret Service', and he never, EVER wanted to look so unkept ever again. He'd about passed out the first time he'd seen the look the stylists had given him. Harry shuddered just remembering. And his argument that surely the staff at the spy hospital would be kind enough to allow him to keep his gentlemanly appearance while in the coma had fallen on deaf ears. Apparently looking like the offspring of a yeti mated to a lumberjack was needed in order to make it clear just how long Eggsy's character had been in training before he woke up. And thinking about it was only going to give him nightmares.

Though at least he'd be unconscious for some of that.

Better to concentrate on the pros and cons of hibernation. Not that there was much to think about since he and Eggsy had debated the issue more than once. The little psychopath. Well not that, obviously, but Eggsy was a morning person and therefore basically unnatural. It was a wonder they were friends really. Eggsy had no appreciation for sleep, poor thing. Of course when one was young pulling an all-nighter was no big deal. Even he had managed such things back when he'd been in his twenties. But he'd made up for the lost sleep at the first available opportunity which was what normal people did. Eggsy just wasn't normal. As his anti hibernation stance made clear. Eggsy thought the idea utterly mad. 

He'd come up with all sorts of flimsy excuses as to why Harry shouldn't want to go into hibernation every winter. Like Christmas. Yes it was a lovely holiday, yadda yadda yadda, but he'd had plenty of Christmases in his life and it wasn't like there was anything he really needed. Plus he hated shopping for other people with a passion and being unconscious and unreachable was a valid excuse for not having to do that or attend ghastly Christmas parties with people who drank too much and gossiped incessantly. As for New Year's…it was an excuse to drink too much and cutting back in that regard could only benefit him. Though all right…he would miss the fireworks. He did love those.

What else had Eggsy brought up? Oh, that he'd miss the Oscars as well, since the Americans insisted on hosting that when it was often too cold for the gowns the women wore.   
He'd always been comfortable enough in his tux but some of those poor women... God it was good to be a man sometimes. And as for the possibility of him missing out on receiving an Oscar for his work, well he'd already done the whole Oscar winning thing so if he were to win another in the future he could just send Eggsy in his stead to pick it up for him. Motivate the boy to win one of his own someday. Or Merlin. Merlin would probably get a kick out of that. Not to mention all the jokes and those-what did Eggsy call them….memes? Possibly memes. Or were they memos? No, that didn't sound right. Nemos? No, that was the plural of the name of the clown fish from that Disney movie Eggsy liked so much. Ellen DeGeneres's character had been brilliant in that. He'd loved the 'Fish are friends, not food' scene. A genius idea. And how had he gotten to thinking about-right. He was trying to remember what kids today called the pictures with ironic sayings on them that could reference the fact that Merlin was as bald as the statue. He'd ask Eggsy about it later. Or he could look it up since God knows he wasn't sleeping.

Ugh.

And all right, hibernating was not only physical impossible for him but he wouldn't actually want to do it. At least not for several months straight. After all Daisy seemed to get bigger and more grown up every time he saw her, and if he was asleep he'd miss out on important world events, movie roles, and…and he'd miss people. Miss Eggsy.

He was missing something to do with Eggsy. Something important.

What was he missing?

Better not to think about that either.

But he couldn't seem to stop coming back to that as he lay on his bed in the still quiet of his bedroom.

Better to think about something else. Like all the way-

No. He might as well just give up on the sleeping. There was no point in pretending he was going to sleep tonight. Or morning in this case.

Pretending.

)

Harry waited until eight before he left his house to head for Eggsy's mother's house. Normally he would consider such a visit the height of rudeness and justification for aggravated assault, disturbing someone before noon on a Sunday, but this was Eggsy. He'd be awake. As would Daisy, who was sadly also a morning person like her brother. And Eggsy had stated that he was staying at his mother's house overnight because she would be staying overnight at her friend's place after the party for a grown-up sleepover. Ergo Michelle, who wasn't a morning person, wouldn't be disturbed by him dropping by uncharacteristically early.

Fuck but he hated mornings.

It was eerie as hell, being in the city when it didn't sound like the city. It was too quiet and lifeless without people and such to fill it with noise and motion. Life.  
But Harry supposed he should be grateful for the lack of human traffic at the moment given that he certainly didn't want to have to deal with people or a paparazzo who had taken that stupid quote about the 'early bird catching the worm' to heart. And they got their own separate category because anyone who'd ever had to deal with them knew that they couldn't possibly be people. There was probably some top secret paparazzo ritual where they gave up their human souls to-well some evil demon or entity he didn't know the name of. Or was too tired to think of, sod it.

Sliding his fingers under his sunglasses Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly before dropping his hands back down to his sides with a sigh.  
God but he was so tired.

But he wasn't going to get a wink of sleep, not unless his body keeled over from sleep deprivation which was also a possibility-but he wouldn't sleep well until he'd talked to Eggsy.

Andrew was an idiot. Merlin was not.

Merlin agreed with Andrew that there was something important going on with Eggsy that he was missing and shouldn't be.

And if that was the case Eggsy had some explaining to do.


	14. Why Can't You See

Note: Sorry for the lack of updating and the fact that this chapter is a little on the short side. Between writer's block and my stupid Word subscription canceling writing's been hard. Will try to do better!

 

Why Can't You See

The small, two store house Eggsy had bought for his mother a few years back was looking especially lovely this morning thanks to a fresh coat of blue paint on the shutters and window boxes. And not procrastinating in the slightest, thank you very much, Harry stood just inside the gate to admire the paintjob and the bright, happy flowers in the boxes and flowerbeds before him. Harry knew that Eggsy had offered to buy his mother something bigger and fancier at the time, but Michelle had waved off that idea as silly and a waste of money. There was just her and Daisy after all, and Eggsy had better things to spend his money on in her opinion. Eggsy, being Eggsy, had argued that there was nothing more important to him than taking care of his girls and making them happy, but Michelle had put her foot down and so the extra money Eggsy would have spent had gone into savings instead. Which wasn't to say that Eggsy didn't spoil them rotten whenever the opportunity presented itself of course. Harry knew he did. But Eggsy was making enough money to get away with that and Harry had made sure that the people handling the boy's money were his own people. So if the jobs dried up for some reason in the future Eggsy would have a nice nest egg to fall back on while he sorted things out. And on top of that Eggsy was the main beneficiary of his own will...so needless to say Harry didn't spend too much time worrying about the fact that Eggsy could be overly generous with people.

Ugh. It was so early. And why did it have to be sunny out today? Why couldn't there be clouds and rain? If there was rain he could have talked himself out of this on the way over or at least had an excuse to have his umbrella out as a sort of-bugger it.

Disgusted with himself Harry marched over to the door and raised a hand to ring the bell, shoving his hands in his pockets immediately afterwards as he halfheartedly prayed that Eggsy and Daisy had gone out for breakfast or were sleeping in for once like normal people.

But he heard footsteps on the hardwood floors after a minute or two, only they didn't sound like Eggsy's familiar gait and Harry had just a moment to realize who they did sound like before the door was opening and there was Michelle. Staring at him in shock. Complete with bulging eyes and open mouth as she stood in her doorway wearing pajamas and no makeup at all.

They had about a heartbeat to stare at each other in mutual shock over the other's appearance before all the color drained from Michelle's face as she reached out and grabbed him by his shoulders, her long, surprisingly sharp nails digging into them without mercy.

"Eggsy. What's happ'ned to im? Has he been hurt? Was there an accident? Let me get Dais and our coats and we'll-"

"He's fine. I haven't-"

Wait a minute. Shouldn't she know that Eggsy was fine seeing as Eggsy had been coming here last night? Unless plans had changed and Michelle had come home early and Eggsy had gone home. That would-

"Oh thank Christ. Don't scare me like that." Michelle breathed out a sigh of relief as she braced herself against his shoulders for a moment, color returning to her cheeks in a hurry now. "Bloody hell. What on earth are you doin here at this hour then? Before ta day I'd have said seeing you at this hour on a Sunday was a sign of the Rapture. Or a zombie apocalypse at the very least." Stepping back Michelle's hands went expectantly to her hips as she gave him the patent mom 'what's your excuse' look.

"Ah...I came by to talk to Eggsy about something, actually. But he's...not here?"

Michelle's eyebrows rose. "Haven't seen him since...Thursday, I think. He said ow he was gonna be right busy this weekend and wouldn't be around ta see us like usual. He's not at his place, then?"

"I'll check there next. I thought he said that he was babysitting Daisy last night and staying over."

"He's watching her for a bit for me on Wednesday, but not till then."

"I see."

Eggsy had lied to him. Lied to his face. They did not lie to each other. Or at least he didn't lie to Eggsy. Yes the occasional white lie when Eggsy asked him what he thought of his latest chav ensemble or his impression of some brainless twit who'd caught the younger man's eye, but not about-not about something it made no sense to lie about. Why would Eggsy want him to think that he was somewhere he wasn't? It wasn't like he'd even asked what Eggsy had planned for the evening. Eggsy had volunteered the information and-

Belatedly realizing he was just staring at Michelle while he ranted internally, Harry offered a stiff apology. "I apologize for the early morning visit. And for worrying you needlessly."

"It's all right. You want ta come in for a tic and see Daisy? She's eating her brekkie at the moment. I'll even feed ya if ya ain't feelin picky."

"No. Thank you. I'm really not fit company at the moment." And wasn't that an understatement. "I'll drop in sometime this coming week though, if that's all right. It has been a while since I've seen her. I just don't have the energy at the moment."

"You do look like shit. Is this why you sleep so much? You're only good looking after ten hours of sleep or more?"

The smirk on Michelle's face said she was teasing, so Harry worked up a smile as he reminded her that Aurora was called Sleeping Beauty for a reason. Sleep was always good for   
one's physical appearance.

That made her laugh.

But only for a moment, and then Michelle's face softened into an expression Harry had never had her direct in his direction before. Motherly wasn't quite the word, but it was the closest comparison he could think to make. "You and Eggsy had a spat, then?"

"What?"

"Harry." Definitely a mother's tone now, full of both exasperation and affection. "I've known ya longer than either of us are comfortable mentioning. The way you're lookin now, well I only see ya mope like this when you's and Eggsy are on the outs for some reason. Did his team beat yours again last night?"

"Oh. No. We weren't playing-do I look that bad?" Shit.

"I ain't seen ya look this bad since ya got food poisoning from that shawarma place."

Well fuck. He looked that bad? And he couldn't say she was wrong about he and Eggsy being on the outs, especially since he and Eggsy were most likely going to have quite the 'spat' once he found him, so Harry answered honestly with the answer that a fight might be coming, yes.

Michelle shook her head. "Well just remember ta fight fair, alright? Eggsy thinks the world of you."

"As do I for him. Even when I think it would do him a world of good if I put him over my knee one of these days."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth Harry froze in horror, the look on Michelle's face suggesting that her thoughts had gone in the same direction as his had. Fuck a duck.

Daisy chose that moment to start calling out for her mum, thus saving them both from the most awkward silence they'd ever had. And that was saying something. Mentally thanking Eggsy's sister for her excellent timing, he'd bring her a treat when he came to visit next, Harry quickly promised Michelle to keep her advice in mind and then said goodbye before she could say anything else on the matter.

Echoing the goodbye with a rather relieved look of her own, Michelle headed back inside to see what Daisy wanted while Harry headed off to find out why the fuck Eggsy had lied to him and what the hell was going on.

)

For the sake of his sanity...and the fact that he was just aware enough to know he might walk into oncoming traffic if he didn't wake up more in the immediate future, Harry stopped at a café a couple blocks from Eggsy's building to get some much needed caffeine before continuing on his walk. While praying that no one recognized him given how bad he apparently looked at the moment. The tea was far from up to his usual standards, because of course it wasn't, but it did the job and got him to his destination without incident or injury. The shock on the doorman's face, well Harry understood that completely as he greeted the man with a polite 'good morning'. Despite the fact that there was absolutely nothing good about it so far. And that wasn't likely to change any time soon.

"Sir. Good morning. You're here to see Eggsy?"

Harry nodded, asking if Eggsy was in. There was after all still the chance that Eggsy had-

"Yes, Mr. Hart. He was out here about twenty minutes ago to take J.B. for a quick walk. Do you want me to call ahead for you?"

"No need. But thank you."

Holding the door open for him the doorman wished him a pleasant visit, his face revealing nothing but polite curtesy now. Harry figured the doormen would be talking about the shock of seeing him so early on the weekend for the rest of the following week, if not longer.

But at least he didn't run into anyone else on his way up to Eggsy's floor. Everyone else in the building probably fast asleep like he should be. Would be if not for Eggsy. And wasn't he blowing this all out of proportion? I mean yes he was like ninety nine percent sure that he hadn't misheard Eggsy earlier, so the boy had lied to him about his plans for last night, but maybe he'd had embarrassing plans he didn't want Harry to know about? Or was cooking up another surprise that Harry would be dreading if he knew them? There was probably a perfectly good explanation and-and really he should just turn around and go home and back to sleep. Only he'd said he was coming here and the doorman or Michelle would mention it, and-and sod it he was here so he might as well get this over with.

And now that he was facing Eggsy's door...did he knock?

Harry knew he should, he always did as it was the polite thing to do, but Eggsy almost never did the same and Harry was feeling frazzled enough to find the idea of catching Eggsy off guard appealing. Plus he knew from experience that Eggsy was more likely to spill the truth if he didn't have time to formulate an excuse. In case Harry did need to know why   
Eggsy had lied to him in the first place.

So Harry pulled out his keys and let himself into the flat, not surprised in the least when J.B. came running down the stairs from the second level to dance around him with joy and happy barks for treats and attention. No sign of Eggsy though. Which was almost as strange as the fact that all the lights appeared to be off in the place. The only thing keeping the main floor from total darkness was the light coming through the drapes. What on earth? Was Eggsy hungover? That had to be it since normally Eggsy had the disgusting habit of throwing open drapes and flooding rooms with sunlight whenever possible regardless of the hour. And Simon had stated that Eggsy was not only in, but up. Though not making breakfast, Harry noted, and he couldn't hear the shower running either.

Just all around puzzled now Harry bent down to give the dog a quick pet and ear rub before wandering further into the space to make sure Eggsy wasn't stretched out on the couch or hiding somewhere with the intention of jumping out and scaring the daylights out of him.

He wasn't.

But what Harry did see had him frowning fiercely as he stared at the mess on the table situated in front of Eggsy's couch.

That Eggsy had had take away the night wasn't the problem, though they were both supposed to be preparing physically for the 'Secret Service' sequel and Chinese take away wasn't going to help him any. But Eggsy was young and had the metabolism of-fuck he was too tired to think of something that had the metabolism of a teenager so never mind that thought. God he was so tired. And that wasn't the point. The point was that Eggsy hadn't cleaned up after himself before turning in for the night. There was still food in some of the containers for Christ's sake.

Eggsy, unlike so many of his peers, was actually a very neat person who preferred everything squared away whenever possible. Particularly when it came to leaving food out that could not only attract pests, but that J.B. could get into. At a brief glance Harry didn't think that the pug had tried to help himself to anything left in the containers, but he wouldn't have put it past him. J.B. was not picky about his food or smart enough to know what to avoid.

Shaking his head over the mess Harry decided that he might as well clean the mess up while he waited for Eggsy to appear, throwing everything away since he had no idea how safe any of the leftovers were now. And was not about to risk Eggsy getting food poisoning later thanks to Michelle reminding him vividly of how unpleasant that was. If Eggsy protested later...well he'd tell the boy to shove his chopsticks where the sun didn't shine. It was his own fault for leaving it out to go bad.

Turning on a lamp once all the containers had been pitched to make sure that there wasn't any food on the floor or stains on the table Harry's gaze tracked over to the photo album Eggsy had apparently left lying on the couch. A photo album? It must be of pictures Michelle had taken and then put in a book for Eggsy, he decided, since Harry could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Eggsy use a real camera. He always just used the one on his phone and kept his favorites on flash drives for safe keeping.

Curiosity getting the best of him Harry took a seat on the couch and opened the book up, J.B. jumping up on the couch to snuggle up against him.  
They weren't baby pictures. And they weren't old.

Like a man in a trance Harry found himself turning page after page of pictures. Some of them he'd seen before, or at least they looked somewhat familiar, and it looked as though Eggsy had included every favorite picture Harry had of the two of them. At least a quarter of the pictures were selfies, no surprise there...and all of them featured him in them, which was the big surprise. Most of them were of him and Eggsy, hence the selfies, though some of them featured him alone or with Daisy or Eggsy's pug. He wasn't a hundred percent sure on the timeline for all of them, but it definitely covered a number of years and...

God dammit.

This is what they meant, when they said that a picture was worth a thousand words.

God. Oh God.

He'd never seen this picture of him fast asleep in his bed with Eggsy cuddled up to his side, looking at him like he was the most adorable thing ever as he took the picture with his phone. Or this one here, of the two of them struggling and failing miserably to put together the doll house Eggsy had bought for Daisy last Christmas. The looks on their faces as they laughed so that they wouldn't take hammers to the damn thing to end their misery once and for all. And this photo, he had this photo. Mark had taken this one on set just before Harry had left the show. He and Eggsy were in costume with Harry looking down at Eggsy sternly while Eggsy just beamed back at him, fluttering his lashes teasingly. The picture beside it showed him breaking under Eggsy's teasing, smiling back with such a look on his face...

These were pictures Eggsy had culled from the probably hundreds of pictures taken of them since they'd started acting together on 'Kingsman'. The best of seven years worth of holidays, birthdays, parties, and regular moments in their daily lives. These were the pictures Eggsy had decided were worth printing out and putting in an album devoted solely to one thing.

To showing exactly why people had speculated that they were a couple for years.

Love. Pictures that showed Eggsy's love for him. And his for Eggsy.


	15. Good Things Come

Good Things Come

How long Harry sat on the couch with the album in his lap...well he never did figure that out. He just knew that he wasted far too much time opening and closing the album in question, both hiding from the story it told and unable not to see it. Read into it. Realize just how stupid he'd been not to see what should have been staring him right in the face for years. And seriously, how had he managed to sink this deep into stupidity and denial without realizing it? This wasn't being in love and not recognizing it stupid. This wasn't even being oblivious to the fact that your feelings were returned sort of stupid. This was loving AND being in a romantic relationship with someone for over HALF a DECADE and failing to notice.

He and Eggsy had been dating. For years.

Not exclusively, and it was a chaste relationship in their case, but in every other way they were in a long term, committed relationship. They celebrated holidays and birthdays together. They had dumped other romantic partners because of the other and in fact planned their lives around each other. Really, let's be real...the only thing they hadn't been doing was having sex with each other and seriously, what the fuck?!

And he couldn't even blame Eggsy for any of this because not only had Eggsy made it clear that sex was very much on the table if Harry was interested, but their whole messed up relationship was because he hadn't thought they would last more than a few months if they were to be in one.

When they'd already been in one for goddamn years!

It was enough to make his head explode like at the end of 'Secret Service'. Only without the fireworks. This wouldn't be that pretty. Or morbidly humorous.

So yeah, a lot of time was wasted being negative before Harry finally snapped him out of his mental paralysis and got back to his feet with new determination.

The realization that he was still wasting time, time he could be with Eggsy, was enough to get him moving, though Harry did take the time to very carefully put the album onto a top shelf on one of Eggsy's bookshelves to make sure it was safe. Only then did he head up the stairs leading to the flat's second floor. To find Eggsy. He had to find Eggsy. That was all he could do or think about with anything resembling clarity.

Halfway up the stairs he encountered a discarded T-Shirt, Harry picking the article clothing up automatically. It was Eggsy's, he recognized it, and for a moment Harry hesitated, thinking of only one reason why the neat freak he knew and loved would discard an article of clothing here of all places. But no. No. That wasn't it. Not now. And if that were the case the doorman would have warned him that Eggsy had company. As they had in the past when Eggsy had someone sleeping over.

Which wasn't a warning they'd had to give him in quite a while. He just hadn't noticed.

He hadn't noticed a lot of things.

The material bunched up in his fist Harry continued up the stairs with renewed determination, his left hand remaining on the railing since there was no light to really guide his way. Where was Eggsy? If he was up there some light should be on, shouldn't it? Maybe he wasn't home? Gone to visit someone in the building perhaps?

But he had to check.

Once he'd reached the top of the stairs Harry's hand automatically went to the bottom of the light switch, slowly pushing up the bar there to increase the lighting within Eggsy's bedroom. Just enough that he could confirm the fact that Eggsy was indeed there after all. Buried under-oh.

On the right side of his queen size bed Eggsy was an invisible lump. Nothing of the boy showed above the covers as far as Harry could see from where he stood. And while Eggsy burrowing wasn't that uncommon, they both loved to nest in their blankets, it was the quilt on top that delivered a wretched blow to Harry's already battered heart.

The quilt Eggsy had cocooned himself within showed its age. Even in the pale light Harry could see the border that had been added two years ago after the fraying at the original border had become too bad to ignore. The cotton fabric had been worn to silk from constant use and wash, the pattern on it a simplistic checkerboard of blue and green. It had been Lee's. Eggsy's father's. Made by Eggsy's grandmother for her son shortly before her death. It was one of the few things Eggsy had in memory of both of them and he treasured the quilt to the point where he kept it in special storage almost all year round. Eggsy only brought it out and used it when he needed the comfort of it due to sickness or stress. And the latter had to be pretty bad for him to risk an accidental spill or tear.

God. What had he done?

Scrubbing his hands over his face Harry walked further into the room in a miserable daze. And it was more habit than concentration on his part that had Harry noting the trackies on the floor. The other half of the outfit he still carried in his hand. There was a towel too.

Picking up both items Harry noted that the towel was still pretty damp. Recently used.

Carrying all three items over to the hamper Harry deposited them inside and then made himself walk over to the bed, taking a seat on the side of it as he tried to see if even a bit of Eggsy's face was visible. No. But the hair sticking out from the covers was damp to the touch, suggesting a scenario that spoke further to Eggsy's current mindset.

Harry knew Eggsy's morning routine as well as he knew his own. Eggsy would have gotten up this morning, thrown some exercise or lazy day clothes on, and then taken J.B. out for his morning walk/bathroom break. Then he would have come in, given the pug his morning breakfast, and then headed back upstairs to shower and such before getting dressed for the day. Only instead of doing that Eggsy had gone straight back to bed after showering. Hiding away from the world he usually embraced with childish exuberance.

Dammit.

Should he wake him? If Eggsy's night had been anything like his own than sleep was probably the best thing for him. For them, actually. Harry wasn't sure he was up to talking this all out with Eggsy as it was. He was pretty sure he wasn't. His brain had felt like mush even before he'd learned-everything. Right now he just wanted to hold Eggsy and block out the rest of the world too. That sounded like a good idea to him.

Fuck it.

The effort it took for him to remove his socks and shoes confirming just how far gone he was, big surprise, and leaving the rest of his clothes on for obvious reasons Harry swung back around and shifted over until he could press his body up against Eggsy's. Wrapping one arm around the boy's waist area and throwing a leg over so that there was no way in hell he wouldn't notice if Eggsy tried to leave before they'd had a chance to talk, no matter how deep asleep he was...probably.

Hopefully. He hadn't been this tired in a long time.

Fingers crossed.

)

Oxygen was really important. Humans couldn't really live without it. And when the human body wasn't getting nearly enough oxygen in its lungs or to its brain...well basic survival instinct kicked in. And sleep was also interrupted as Harry came awake with a very muffled gasp, lungs screaming for air and-and why was there a hand over his mouth and someone pinching close his nose? And what was the weight on his chest and-and why was a blurry image of someone he thought was Eggsy not saving-oh, thank goodness. The hands currently suffocating him were being removed, letting him draw in some much needed gulps of air.

"What. The. Bloody. Hell?" Harry wheezed out, struggling to breathe normally as Eggsy came into focus. A bare chested, lying full out on top of him, straddling him at the moment Eggsy. Who was also scowling at him rather spectacularly.

"I swear. It was like you's was in a real coma this time."

Harry was pretty sure that he'd remember-oh right. His character in 'Secret Service'.

Which, given his growing understanding of the situation, was not what was important here.

"So what the fuck, Harry? Cause I'm pretty sure you wasn't in this bed when I went to sleep." Eggsy's eyes were bruised and swollen from the night before as they stared down at him, demanding answers while trying to hide what he was feeling from him.

Staring into Eggsy's eyes Harry finally clued into the fact that not only was Eggsy lying on top of him, but that his own arms were wrapped tightly around the younger man's waist, keeping him there. And while it was hard to believe that Eggsy couldn't have broken the hold he had if he wanted to, the other man's arms were free after all and he'd had trained...nevermind.

"I...ah...apologize for the holding you captive."

Eggsy snorted. "Oh those hands of yours were quite a bit lower when I woke up, Bruv."

Lower? Shit.

Harry wanted to look. Especially since he was pretty sure that Eggsy was naked at the moment and if he'd taken his own clothes off earlier they'd be skin to skin. Which wasn't something he should be thinking about. Particularly since now that he was thinking about it they were both sporting morning wood and-shit.

His stuttered apology was pathetic, and possibly a bit garbled.

He couldn't wince hard enough.

"Wot ya doin ere, 'Arry?"

Okay. When Eggsy started talking that convolutedly Harry knew things were fucked up. Not that he'd needed the reminder.

Moment of truth.

"I came by to-well first I went to your mother's because you lied to me and said you'd be there only you weren't and-see yesterday before I left the studio Andrew said something and then Merlin did and I couldn't sleep at all last night and so, so I came here and saw and when I came up here you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you, especially since I was hardly in any condition to have a proper conversation with you, and obviously that wasn't good since it was an important conversation. The one we need to have, I mean. We haven't had it already so... Ah. So I decided it would be best for me to just join you, in sleeping, while making sure that you wouldn't leave without me, though only my one arm was around-well and a leg too but-shit."

The look on Eggsy's face made it clear that yes, he was making a complete hash of this.

"I'm fucking this up royally, aren't I?"

"Yup."

"Shit." Harry wanted to rub his hands over his face-but that would mean moving his hands away from Eggsy and that wasn't happening. Not yet. Not unless he had to.

Take bloody two

"I'm sorry, Eggsy. Sorry I've been so bloody clueless, and thoughtless, and completely unworthy of you. If you're willing to hear it I will gladly apologize to you every bloody day of the rest of my life if it means you'll forgive me and my stupidity and...and cowardice." God. He'd been such a fucking coward. "I thought I had all the answers. That I knew how it would go and you kept telling me I was wrong and I didn't listen, or pretended not to hear, and I must have been hurting you. So very badly. Frankly I don't know why you didn't tell me to fuck off ages ago. It's what I'd deserve because you could do so much better. Deserve so much better than me."

Eggsy's eyes got bigger and bigger as Harry stumbled through his explanation, to the point where those beautiful green eyes rather resembled a cartoon or anime character. Harry wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad sign as he forced the most important words out. It was now or never.

"You deserve the very best, and I-I was too afraid to let myself acknowledge how deeply and irrevocably in love with you I am, because how could I ever hope to...to be worthy of the best person I know. The one person I could never bear to lose. So better to be your friend than risk...risk losing everything."

There. He'd said it. He'd done it and they were both awake and sober. And the world hadn't ended.

But Eggsy wasn't saying anything. Eggsy was just staring at him.

Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

He'd screwed up. He'd been wrong and now everything would change and they'd-would they even be a they? Dear God, what could he do or say-

"Fuck, Harry." Eggsy's voice was rough from sleep and possibly from emotion too as he shifted a little bit forward so that they were practically nose to nose. "You're the one who's always got his eyes glued ta the telly when one of those romcoms come on. This is the part where you're suppose ta kiss me, Stupid."

Oh. Oh thank God. Eggsy was smiling at him with his Christmas morning/Going to Disneyland/Trying to outshine the sun smile.

The most beautiful smile.

And one hundred percent onboard with Eggsy's demand Harry reached up to frame Eggsy's beloved face between his hands and then gave a completely unnecessary tug to bring the boy's face down the remaining distance to seal their lips together.

Their first real kiss.

And it was everything Harry could have hoped for and a million times better than he'd ever imagined. It brought to mind that line from 'The Princess Bride' about how 'since the invention of the kiss there had been five kisses rated the most passionate and beautiful and that the one between the two main characters left them all in the dust', or something to that effect.

Well move over Buttercup and Westley. This one beat them out too.

It was a kiss to end all kisses and the only reason Harry remotely wanted it to ever end was so that he could hear Eggsy tell him that he loved him too. Which was why he said the words again as soon as they had to break for air, giving Eggsy a very expectant look afterwards as he waited to hear the words back.

The grin that broke over Eggsy's face was positively evil. "Of all the bed in all the flats in all of London. You had to snuggle into mine."

Groaning, Harry's face scrunched up into a scowl. "You know I don't like that movie. It might have had some of the greatest lines in movie history, but not even that could save it. Anyone who says it's the greatest movie ever made has been sorely miseducated."

"True. Though at least I didn't quote 'Gone With the Wind'."

This was true. Hate was a strong word, but Harry couldn't stand that movie. It was another one of those films that everyone knew of and was on all the Best Lists...while not deserving it at all. Because he was a gentleman he couldn't say what he thought of Scarlett O'Hara...so suffice to say he would have tanned Eggsy's bottom if he'd used any of Scarlett and Rhett lines. Especially if he'd been put in the role of Scarlett.

"Would you prefer 'Ditto.' or 'I know.' instead?"

"Oh for the love of..." He could see it in Eggsy's eyes, which were practically dancing with mischief, glee, and the love Eggsy wasn't saying at the moment, because the love of his life was very much enjoying dragging this out. As revenge went this was pretty tame, but still...

Eggsy continued to play dumb, humming in confusion.

"Well both of those movies are superior to the first two, but no, that's not what I want to hear."

"I could recite your love confessions from both Darcy roles?"

"No."

Eggsy gave him another teasing kiss before he went back to more evil grinning.

"Well I always have been partial to that confession at the end of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. Or I think I am. I keep seeing all these different translations for it and since I don't speak Chinese...but I could quote my favorite version of it for you."

Enough was enough.

Rolling them over, and very much enjoying Eggsy's surprised yelp which turned into happy giggling, Harry stared down at Eggsy and did his best to look as stern as possible.

"Unless you want me to start calling you by your proper first name you'll quit teasing me. Or at least say that you love me too before you continue to bring up various quotes and pop culture references just to annoy the fuck out of me."

"Awww, and I hadn't even quoted from that R Kelly song bout being locked away and would ya still love me."

"Gary."

That got a wince.

"All right. All right. I'd say keep your pants off, but if ya wanted ta lose em I wouldn't mind any."

The sound that left his throat couldn't be called anything but a growl, and Harry wasn't sorry.

Eggsy just laughed.

And then his face went absolutely serious, his beaming smile back in full force as he met Harry's gaze.

"I love you, Harry Hart."

"Finally."

"Ditto."

That called for more kissing. Lots and lots of kissing.


End file.
